Spontaneous Combustion

[Damon in STL]

Lost my 911 yesterday due to a fire. The car was parked in my garage and had not been driven in the last 24 hours. I was in the house watching the F1 race when the alarms went off. Luckily both doors on my garage opened by themselves and I was able to knock down the fire with a garden hose before the Fire Dept. even arrived.

My insurance company is State Farm. I'd like to get advice from people who have gone through a claim like this or similar for clearly identifying the value of the car. The 3.0 engine has recently been rebuilt, SSI headers, body in good condition with no rust.



Damon in STL

[puddy]

Oh god, thats horrible man! So sorry to see that I hope you can get a fair settlement from insurance. At least you and family are safe & healthy, if happened in middle of night maybe could have been worse outcome. Good luck with everything!

[Tippy]

State Farm should take care of you.

[Jack Stands]

The Hagerty valuation site might give you some numbers that the adjuster will want to see. Photos, etc. will be helpful for the adjuster. I believe that Kelly Blue Book and the NADA numbers will also be considered.

My previous claims with State Farm (on my home and daily drivers that teenage kids totaled) have always been handled fairly, so I hope your experience is good as well. Obviously, they will be looking why a parked car in a garage would suddenly catch fire.

[Oh Haha]

Sorry for the car but glad that nobody was hurt.

We have no issues with State Farm for claims on the 911, truck, and our house. Our agent is fantastic. I hope all turns out well for you.

[GH85Carrera]

It is freaky how just the right combination of circumstances can cause a fire. Most of us with air cooled 911s have smelled a wife to the strong smell of gasoline and NOT had a fire. I had a big fuel leak once from a fuel line connection. The gas was spewing out all over the hot engine. I got lucky and no fire. I had the car towed home and fixed the problem in just minutes.

Sorry for you loss but like any intelligent person should, you had insurance and no one was hurt. In the end it is just a car.

[Lyle O]

So sorry for the loss here. I have gone through a claim a few years ago with State Farm (though nothing like this). They were prompt and more than fair. I had (still have) stated value coverage. As the value of these cars has increased over the last few years, I just recently increased the stated value of my car (by 60%!) and they accepted this (just had to send photos), so they clearly are recognizing that the values are going up. I sure hope they help you make the best of this. Feel free to PM me if you want to go theight any more detail. Good luck.
Lyle.

[universeman]

Oh man I am sorry. Also glad you and the family are safe.

Is your water heater in your garage? That + gas leak is a common source of garage car fires.

Those of you who park your car in the garage, please consider a simple exhaust fan/vent at ground level with an electric fan, to remove gas fumes. Shutter Exhaust Fans

An alternative is an attic gable fan, if you have (or can cut) a vent from your garage to the attic overhead. The advantage there is that it keeps the temperature in your garage down, and your attic, and therefore also your house. Thermostatically controlled ones are available.

[T77911S]

a 930 was lost just recently due to the same thing over on the 930 side.


my dad's volvo caught fire in the garage. he managed to push it out before it burned the house down.

[86 911 Targa]

^^^^^
In this case, this probably would not have helped you.

However, please consider one for your next Porsche.

Your insurance will help you recover from this tragedy.

Also, your P-car friends on this site wish you the best.

pm me anytime.

Gerry

[CVDH]

So sorry for your loss. I hope everything is settled fairly. I've been on both sides of this (nearly lost a car to a fire, and later spent time as a claims adjuster), so if you need advice or help feel free to send me a PM.

[timmy2]

PM username wew, he just settled a total loss claim with SF.

Sorry for your loss, glad nobody was hurt.

[Quicksilver]

Your only real choices for source of ignition is either electrical or something outside the car. Kind of a "make your hair stand up" scary situation.
Obviously it won't do you any good (except possibly with your adjustor) but press them for a point of ignition. It would do us all good if there is an area that should be inspected as we all get up there in age.


And before agreeing to any payout make sure you consult with a few resources to make sure you can replace the car in this rising market.

[Damon in STL]

Thanks everyone for the concern, well wishes, and offers for advice etc.....

Here are some scary things which could have made this situation a lot worse. I have a BMW e30 M3 race car that was parked next to the 911. I had emptied a 5 gallon jug of race fuel into it the weekend before and had forgot to put the gas cap back on. I had another full 5 gallon jug behind the M3 and also a 5 gallon container for the lawnmower.



The fire appears to have started near the three fuses in the engine compartment back left. Unfortunately the fuel accumulator was keeping the fire going after the fuel line melted through.

I was really lucky the garage doors failed open and have a water hose right next to the doors (it is a wind up type in the brown box).

[Lapkritis]

I was expecting worse but the photo makes it look like there could be a restoration/repair made...it's not completely scorched out when paint and plastic (even if missing in places) is still present so you did a great job slowing down the flames with the hose. I would consider storing it indoors until you get settled/decide on insurance steps.

[Damon in STL]

UPDATE:

I've now spoken with about 7 different people/groups from State Farm. All but one of the conversations were initiated by me. It is somewhat difficult to know who is in charge. I've had the home owners policy field rep out, the auto field rep out, and spoke with a "contents" person.

There are a couple of areas of concern I have. One is the car was in the process of being restored. It has a rebuilt 3.0 with cams, a rebuilt trans, ssi headers, just converted to EFI using the Bitz kit over the winter, zero rust other than a surface spot here and there, 16" Fuchs, needs interior to be redone (seats/carpet), and the paint job was acceptable for a 40 year old car (except for the hood...it had some paint damage when I bought it and I had taken it down to bare metal and primed it with a etching primer and then covered it with a flat black primer since the car is black). The concern is what is the value of a solid car with good mechanicals and needing fresh paint and interior? There are also new windshield gasket, door gaskets, as well as other parts which have been purchased but not yet installed. Opinions on value are requested.

The other area of concern has to do with other misc. race parts which may be damaged. The "contents" person was basically clueless....and I'm not trying to be mean here....but, she had no idea what I was talking about with regard to tools and car parts that are not related to the damaged Porsche parts which may have been damaged in the fire. I race a BMW M3 and as an example, have SS braided hoses with AN fittings for a dry sump system stored on hooks where much of the heat damage from the fire occurred. She was trying to tell me these types of "automotive parts" are not covered.

I'm going to speak with a couple of local Porsche repair shop specialists and the local PCA people to get their opinions on the value of the car. Any thoughts are welcomed.

Damon

[Lapkritis]

They need to pony up the dough and send out an independent appraiser. They're over their heads and not qualified for considering the dynamics in this valuation.

[manbridge 74]

Many people aren't aware that those 3 fuses are live with key off. The plastic cover is there for a reason.

Also with 100psi surge possible in CIS fuel injection all the correct clamps and high pressure rated hose should be present and inspected once a year at least. I know the OP was using low pressure Bitz efi but throwing it out there for others.

I actually have a habit of popping the engine lid after coming home each time for a quick look if it's going in the garage.

[Damon in STL]

I just got done working with the fire investigator as to the cause of my car fire. It turns out it was not a car fire. The fire was caused by a welding ember that started in an old towel I had used the day before to protect my legs. I was wearing shorts and placed the towel over my legs to keep the weld splatter off of them. Apparently the towel had a hot ember still smoldering on it when I balled it up and put it down on the ground in the garage between the two cars. Over the course of 24 hours it continued to burn without notice even though I was in the garage with the doors closed the next day for several hours. It finally got hot enough to cause a fire which spread to the garage mat I had next to the car. The fire then made its way over to the car.

Now that the fire inspector has done his part I'm able to take a closer look at the car. The damage looks worse than it actually is. Since the fire did not start in the engine compartment as I had thought the damage seen to the exterior of the car may be mainly from the insulation in the garage door catching fire and then dripping down onto the car while it was on fire. The inspector said that the fire did not get that hot inside the engine compartment and showed me things which should have melted if it had. This is good and bad news.....as it makes the decision to try and salvage the car harder.

[manbridge 74]

Good to hear it wasn't the car.

Sorry for your loss but it's better than you dead...