A friend's meticulously restored TR4A was burnt out, and written off a few weeks ago. . .

[Bfg]

A friend's meticulously restored TR4A was burnt out, and written off a few weeks ago. . . And the car was too badly damaged to determine the cause. Thankfully nobody was hurt. 

  Eric, this beautiful TR4A is sadly no longer with us.

The owner is on the TR Register forum, and has subsequently bought a very nice looking Triumph Stag, so will probably be on here now or soon.

I met him the other week, after he listed a rebuilt TR4A differential for sale in the TR club's Classified Ads.  I collected it and also a rebuilt steering rack from Rugby, the day before the meeting at the Shuttleworth collection.      

Further to his selling off his TR4 spares, his car's fire became a topic of forum conversation. 

In reply to this, one of the TR guru's - Stewart added his condolences and suggested "that's why Fire safety Sticks are recommended".

  there's also a video here ;  https://bladeprint.co.uk/products/fire-safety-stick

I'd not heard of these before.  I carry a 1 kg extinguisher in the TR, and another in my quirky trailer tent, but they are bulky, and I never realised that their extinguishing time was so short.  ..just 8 - 10 seconds ?

And so, taking aboard the recommendations I've ordered x3 FireSafetyStick 50s today.  The reason for my buying three is that I know - if I had just one, it would be in the other car, or on the boat, or in the garage at home !   Now I have these.. my other fire extinguishers and fire blankets will distribute around my storage and home and shed.

Having checked first with the TR-Register club shop, on line, inc Amazon and Ebay, and then having asked the UK distributor and a mainstream mail-order marine / chandlery if they could offer a discount for either ten or twenty  (..depending on interest from my local TR & TSSC groups, and the local yacht club) ..the best price i could find, for the Fire Safety Stick 50s, was from L&S Engineering, Walsall. < here >.  

Their price, at this time, is £63.24 inc VAT, and for x3 I paid £5.30 in P+P.  So the order totalled £196.08.!  That is a hefty bill to me ..but I figure the price might be amortized over their 15-year shelf life.   ie., about £1 a month.

I really feel for Peter loosing his beautiful '4A Eric, and hate the idea of my or any friend's classic car or motorcycle going up in flames, (however if it were my Peugeot I would care a darn ! ..save loosing my no-claims bonus  ..huh ! ).   Likewise loosing my camping trailer, boat, or my home to flames, not to mention the health and safety of others.  Many years ago, I did have a electrical cooker fault, a chip-pan fire, which I fought and managed to put out, but cleaning and redecorating afterwards is not something I'd wish to repeat. If that flame had been put out sooner then quite possibly the damage, and the stink, would have been far less. 

I'll be carrying a fire stick in Katie's boot, and it would be nice if others did the same just in case there were a fire at any classic car meet, whether the local group or an open multi-club event.

Pete

Edited September 22 by Bfg

[DerekS]

Sad story but I have to ask, is this an advert?

Derek.

[Bfg]

 

1 hour ago, DerekS said:

Sad story but I have to ask, is this an advert?

Derek.

 

No not an advert Derek, I have no affiliation whatsoever with Fire Safety Stick nor any business that sells them.  I'm retired and have no affiliation with any company nowadays.   The information and best price I could find is presented here for you to make up your own mind.  If you can find a better fire extinguisher (..to carry in a small sports car) &/or at a cheaper price then go for it ..and please spread the word so others might benefit.    

Admittedly I am very aware of fire risk, having had my own fibreglassing business for many years. And I still own a sailing boat with gas cooker, and I still use welding equipment on the cars and in making brackets.  GRP materials and the acetone solvent are each extremely flammable, and even finished panels burn with startling ferocity.  I know because (many years ago) I tried to dispose of a Reliant Kitten body shell by cutting it up and burning it. The flames seriously scorched a huge tree which was some 30 foot away.  As said, I've also had a chip-pan-fire in my own home. That kitchen had polystyrene tiles on the ceiling ..which drip molten plastic in your hair and down your neck as you try to fight the fire. Burning polystyrene also fills the room with dense toxic fumes.  I've also experienced one of my own (very well maintained) Sunbeam motorcycle's backfire when it was kickstarted ..and set alight to its carburettor float chamber ..which is of course immediately under the petrol tank !.  It happened most unexpectedly when I stopped at a fish n' chip shop and parked the bike on its side stand. The acute angle cause the float to stick, which caused the carb to flood.  I don't park it like that any more. 

And then yet again.. Katie, my own Triumph had an under bonnet fire (caused by my not realising the mechanic had left a half-empty brake/clutch fluid pot resting on the exhaust manifold. That happened in the evening as we were late finishing replacing a clutch..  I don't put things on the engine (there's not a flat surface !) and didn't look, nor see the (yellow !) pot when I closed the bonnet in dim light.  

All in all I consider myself very fortunate indeed.., that any one of these wasn't more serious.  But I am aware ! ..and habitually have a fire blanket in the car and in the home.  I also have a fine collection of mostly out of date fire-extinguishers spread around the place, along with a new one, I bought just a month ago, for my trailer-tent.   

I met Peter, whose just lost his TR4 to a fire (..cause unknown) and listened to what others on the TR Register forum had to say,  made my own choice,  and then found the best price I could.  The TR Register's club shop sells the same thing for £10 more (each), and although I like to support the Triumph clubs, my buying three from the engineering company, saved me £30.  That's quite useful as I don't have too many thirty-quids to spare.   

If you don't want a fire extinguisher, no problem.  If I'm parked near you at any car meet, then you're free to use mine in a emergency    ...it'll always be kept in the boot, which is rarely locked.  

Pete