A sad day. Left UBRVRAPE on a nice sunny morning. About nine miles away, I noticed a problem in back....

Pulled over, looked like this

A few minutes later, looked like this:

OH NO!! I am so very sorry for such a loss.
I would like to say "look on the brighter side" I can't think of a brighter side at this moment. That is a bigger loss than if it were a new van. So sorry.
Dick.

It's just stuff... I was glad we got it unhitched and no firefighters were injured. Pretty wild when the magnesium engine block burned...

I saved most of the tools inside, nobody hurt. Could be a lot worse.

Oh Man Steve what an awful thing to have happen. Have you figured out what caused it?

Good you were able to unhook quickly and get the Monarch away for the VW.

So glad no one was hurt, did the gas tank explode?? Talk about the Turd Fairy, think you found the whole barnyard full!!!

The fire started around the left rear wheel. Must have been the wheel bearing. Took me about a minute to find a shoulder wide enough to pull off, left the engine running. By then the wheel well and under the rear bumper already burning.

Shot the first fire bottle. No good. Immediately unhitched and drove coach about 200 feet. Came back with 2 more fire bottles, no good. Stood there and watched it burn.

I suspect the wheel bearing since the wheel was not dragging when I pulled over. Probably got the hub red hot and set off the brake fluid or hose. Tire was fine then. Fire spread quickly to the pass side. Within 5 minutes the whole back end was blazing. I believe the culprit was the old fashioned tarlike undercoating.

About 5 more minutes I think the gas line burned through and drained the gas tank underneath. By then it was engulfed front to back.

About 3 more minutes the windows went, the entire interior burned fiercely. Left tire blew first, then the right. Fire truck arrived and started hosing about the time the magnesium engine caught and burned bright and hot. Fire guys had to use a large chemical bottle to snuff the entire back end. Did the job and they finished with hoses.

As the tow guy winched it on the flat bed (he was pleased with my sturdy tow bar bracket) I saw the trans was not burned, the axles were intact except the boots melted.

Between the tarry undercoating and the fuel there was no chance to stop it.

We left UBRVRAPE again this morning. Nice uneventful drive to Eagles Roost RV park, exit 5 Valdosta, Georgia. We will be in Florida tomorrow for the last stop.

Have Barth, no toad

Steve,

After reviewing so many of your excellent posts over the years especially the ones of you working on your VW toad and to now be looking at the photos of it burning, I think of the quote "The best laid plans of mice & men often go awry". Ironically & coincidentally this was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns.

As we all know, no matter how well one prepares, there's always the possibility that bad things can happen to good people. But the important thing is how we move forward from a disappointment (and losing your unique VW bus would certainly qualify).

That said, I detect a stoicism in your posts as well as a wide ranging mechanical aptitude so I'm fairly certain you'll be bouncing back in time with a new toad equal to if not better than the last one.

Good Luck, best wishes, & regards,

John

Kind words sir. Bottom line, like the bumper sticker says, "Stuff happens"

A good old car, pulled it around for about 15,000 miles. Just a sad ending. Nobody hurt, no really serious loss. One less thing to take care of (and the coach runs better without it!)

At this point I won't be doing much until I get back home next summer. I will think about until then.

Have to admit this has been a rather unusual trip to Florida and I'm not even there yet!

Once upon a time long, long ago, in the days of CB radios, I came upon a semi-trailer with a wheel bearing fire. The driver and his lead buddy had used all their extinguishers and after discharge the fire would reignite. I let them know I was a minute away, when I arrived was when they told me and obviously these were dry powder types. I went to the shoulder ditch, immediately found a drink can, cut the top off, filled it with water in the ditch and tossed it on the bearing. The flame reduced, the driver said xxxx and said stand back while I break the door seal. He opened a door grabbed a gallon jug of milk from the dairy's load and doused the fire. It needed the heat reduced so it couldn't reignite and the dry types couldn't do that.

Finally arrived in Florida. Miserable traffic. In all the 70000 miles in my coaches this was the worst trip I ever had. Between the truck traffic and losing the VW the only good days were at UBRVRAPE

And we truly enjoy the friends we have made over the years with Barthmobile and hope the visitors enjoy it as much as Donna and I do.

Nick

As I have said before, the best thing about Barth rvs are the people we have met. We look forward to more meetings in the future.

Got settled in now. Car started right up. Nice to be able to relax in the winterized coach. 80 degrees and sunny, life is good.

We will drive back north with the car on Sunday, return in early Dec to stay for the winter.

Have Barth, will park for a while!

A couple of days in the Florida sun, sounds good, cold and wet up here for a couple of days, might be a nice weekend though for your drive back.