Its official ..... Its total'd

Yesterday my wife went to pick up some rodents, when she stopped at a rest area she came out to find our van was completely engulfed in flames, it is officially a total loss for us, not to mention somewhere in the neihborhood of 2000 live rats and mice that were in the van.

The good news is that my wife and daughter got out of the van just in time and nobody was injured.

A bad situation all the way around, but could have been much worse.

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It took 9 minutes for the fire to spread from the engine compartment to the reaer of the van. It burned so hot that it actually melted the asphault beneath it.

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Thats a TERRIBLE loss

Not only the van, but the mice and rats inside......

Wow Chuck, I have heard of this earlier from Tim and couldn't believe what I was hearing, you guys were in that van all weekend in Columbia, your wife and your daughter were driving it the day of the incident, just thank God no one was in the van when it engulfed in flames!! I wish there were someway I could help you on the rat loss, hopefully insurance will cover the van minus all the modifications you put into it making it the rat hauling machine it was. Just wanted your family to know Jamie, Caitlin and I will be praying for you guys and hopefully things get back to normal soon. We'll be down at Tims in three weeks, try to stop by and hang out for awhile! Take care buddy, we're praying for you.

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Originally Posted by PrototypePythons

Wow Chuck, I have heard of this earlier from Tim and couldn't believe what I was hearing, you guys were in that van all weekend in Columbia, your wife and your daughter were driving it the day of the incident, just thank God no one was in the van when it engulfed in flames!! I wish there were someway I could help you on the rat loss, hopefully insurance will cover the van minus all the modifications you put into it making it the rat hauling machine it was. Just wanted your family to know Jamie, Caitlin and I will be praying for you guys and hopefully things get back to normal soon. We'll be down at Tims in three weeks, try to stop by and hang out for awhile! Take care buddy, we're praying for you.

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Thanks for the kind words we appreciate it. Right now it looks like Insurance will only cover the van and a few hunderd dollars for the contents.... I am not done with them on this yet though.

I am VERY sorry to hear this happened to you :( But I am VERY glad nobody got hurt!!! Sorry again and good luck with the insurance company!!

Its great that no one got hurt but thats really a loss :( but on the other hand yall are all talking about the Columbia shot, NO I REALLY REGRET NOT GOING :(

Wow that sucks :O.Glad the wife and your daughter were not in it when it started.

Big Gunns has got to be honest. He feels sorry for the rats and mice. They may have soon gonna be snake food, but this kind of death is worse in BG's opinion.(BG's a softy, but keep that quiet)

Glad the family is OK though.:gj:

wow glad everyone is ok.

GOD is good im glade your family didnt get hurt. Hope all goes well.

I am very glad no humans were hurt. Good luck with the Insurance (they are infamous for trying to be cheap!)

Sorry that happened to you Chuck! Did they say what caused it?

I can't imagine what was going through your wife's mind at that time. Sorry for your loss all the way around. If your auto insurance doesn't cover the rodent loss, submit a claim through your homeowner's insurance policy. They should cover the loss.

But if not, at least the family is safe.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

No idea on what started it yet, the insurance company is investigating it today.

Thanks for the idea of homeowners insurance I will look into that.

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

Big Gunns has got to be honest. He feels sorry for the rats and mice. They may have soon gonna be snake food, but this kind of death is worse in BG's opinion.(BG's a softy, but keep that quiet)

Glad the family is OK though.:gj:

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You're right on there, that is a horrible way to die for any animal. They ALL deserve to be treated with care, concern and respect even if they are snake food.

No worries I wont tell anyone your little secret............:O

That Sucks!!! If there is anything we can do let us know. Glad everyone is okay!
Trey

:O Oh my goodness....thankfully they stopped and got out for a break and were not in there when that happened. I am so sorry that happened to you. Keep bartering with the insurance company.....I had a car totalled about 3 years ago and I worked with them allot and they kept uping the money. So it does work....just keep working on them. Let us know what they find out....was the van on? Do they think someone else started this?

Again...sorry that this happened to you.

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

:O Oh my goodness....thankfully they stopped and got out for a break and were not in there when that happened. I am so sorry that happened to you. Keep bartering with the insurance company.....I had a car totalled about 3 years ago and I worked with them allot and they kept uping the money. So it does work....just keep working on them. Let us know what they find out....was the van on? Do they think someone else started this?

Again...sorry that this happened to you.

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The van was on fire when they stopped, my wife just didnt realize it at the time, it was turned off and parked away from all the other vehicles in the parking lot. I dont belive someone else started this, it happened way too fast from smoke in the engine compartment to completely gone in less than 30 minutes and she was about 150 miles from home.

My wife was a complete and total nervous wreck - this was one of those stops were you dont bring anything in with because its a quick stop so she lost her purse and everything in it ............

I couldnt have driven any faster to get to them and it still took me a little over 2 hours. The people there were great and helped her out alot while I was traveling there, they got them food and drinks, let her use there cell phones, even offered to drive them all the way home.

In the face of true tragedy the human heart can be unbelievable

Wow man, unbelievable.

Glad everyone is ok!

Scary stuff.

Glad the family is fine, and good luck with the insurance.

I saw a car on fire once, not a pretty sight. The hood was all blackened and smoke was starting to pour out the cracks, no owner was around. By the time the fire dept got there, it was unbelievable.. Something so relatively small in size seems as unstoppable a force as a hurricane.

Wow, I'm sorry to hear about that. Pretty scary, I'm glad your family is safe!

Dude I sorry about all the money and rodents lost.


But curiosity makes me have to ask. How the heck did it catch fire? I mean going in somewhere and coming out to see your car ablaze seems like something out of a movie.

Holy cow! SO glad your wife and daughter are ok! That's terrible about the rats and mice, though :(

I was driving through town one day (well I was actually practically in the country) and I saw a pick up truck sitting in someone's yard with the bed of the truck engulfed in flames. Now, I live in the south and so burning things is normal. When I first saw it I said to myself, "is that normal?" The next time I came through the truck was charred! It's actually a wonder the house didn't catch on fire. The truck was parked in the front yard and was uncomfortably close to the house. Still no idea what started it. It could have been the fuel tank. The way it was burning there had to have been something extremely flamable.

Poor rats.

Oh my goodness that's awful! I'm glad your family was a ok, but those poor mice/rats :( Hopefully they died quickly from smoke inhalation.

What a terrible loss.

Fire damage report says that cause is undeterminable due to "Total Burn" but did confirm that it started in the engine compartment drivers side and is suspected to be around the power steering fluid cooler hose. On a seperate note I will sign the papers from the insurance company tomorrow and they will send out a check for the remaining equity, the bank already has their money.

If anyone knows where I can get a decent replacement van I would sure appreciate a good lead.


Thanks for all the support.

Got a new van on friday. :banana::banana::banana:


2010 Ford Transit Connect:

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Still a few more things to clear up for insurance but we are up and running again!!!

Congrats on the new van!!!!!!! It looks REALLY nice :gj::gj:

Oh my! I am so sorry for what happened to your first van! I'm glad that your wife and child were safe and out of harm's way! I can only imagine what that must have been like. Congratulations on the new van though! To think about all of those poor rats and mice is just terrible.

Nice van. I bet this one will fit your needs perfectly.

Congrats!
Jim Smith

Whoa! I missed this the first time it was posted - I'm SOOO sorry to hear of your loss, but glad to see that you're up and running again. Glad your wife and daughter were ok, but definitely sad for the rats and mice. :(