Wow.. the car is off, cold and it exploded? Sounds like someone tampered with it. I can hardly believe a car exploding while it's running, even though car fires do happen from leaking gasoline/power steering fluid which drops on the hot headers or exhaust pipes and ignites.
so there was an explosion, it wasn't just a fire. not that a fire is good either. unfortunately my expert is pretty much unconscious at the moment, so maybe he can chime in tomorrow evening.
The fire was definitely on the passenger side... the fender on the driver's side is nearly untouched. And flames were coming up from the wheel well (the passenger side fender's paint tells me this). The headlight (Passenger side) is pretty much disintegrated. EDIT: I mean the fire that followed the explosion. ... is this HID equipped? I know that the ballast requires a significant amount of current to fire up those D4R burners. A short somewhere, perhaps?
It's got leather, so I'm guessing it did have HID lights. I'm betting Toyota will be taking a very careful look at this. Right now I'm putting my money on vandalism, but, as always, I reserve the right to be wrong. /backs Prius out of the garage for the night
Hi Yunebug, Just throw an M80 in through the grill. Or pull back the fender liner, and slip it behind the liner. Easy. Can do it to any car. If you get the hood open, just squirt gasoline down in the air intake. Then run a fuze out, close the hood, light it and run. I imagine a professional arsonist would have fuzing technigues that leave less obvious remains. Zooey, It clearly not related to the hybrid drive or traction battery (or computer battery for that matter). Those are over on the drivers side, behind the rear seat and in the passenger side rear fender well, respectively. The electronics cover under the hood looks to be intact. The power lines from the traction battery come up the drivers side, underneath the car. When the car is powered down, the relay inside the traction battery compartment is open, so there is no high voltage anywhere in the car but inside the traction battery compatment, which is like 16 gauge steel, and no where near where any of the damage occured to your car. Let me tell you a story about my Ford Tempo. It had an intermitant engine cut-out problem after about an hour of operation (longer in the winter). I took it to a Ford Dealarship. They said it was the ingition module, and I gave them permission to replace it, even though I told them I had gotten a fuel pressure code. They called and said it did not fix it. I told them to come pick me up and replace the fuel filter in the mean time, and test it again. They said that had not fixed it either. I drove it back home. Next morning I went out to a parts store and bought a in-tank fuel pump. Came back home and pulled the gas tank, and replaced the in-tank fuel pump. After lunch, I took it out for an extended test drive. Everything worked. It was the first time that car had run continuously for 2 hours in a few years! Coming back near my home, I decided to make one more loop around town in stop and go streets, to be sure (after running the car at higher speeds). I gunned the engine as the stop light went green - putttttt-pfffftt-puttt, then a tremendous smell of gas!!!!! I coasted over into a strip-mall parking lot and popped the hood. I found that fuel line fitting that connects to one end of the fuel filter (which had been professionally installed) had one fitting that had not been snapped all the way on, and had popped half-way off. I pushed on it and got a solid snap-lock. Engine ran fine ever since.
Hi All, My guess is somebody squirted gas down the air intake, and fused it. Molotov resonance chamber. The gas would pool in the resonance chamber, inside the right front fender, foward of the wheel, and the blow up when the fuze came down the intake. People have mentioned that most Toyota's have these intake resonance chambers. Its only been recently that somebody had a picture of this thing on the Prius Chat here too. So that is suspicious. But, also getting ahead of the actual investigative facts.
zooey 1118, a few questions: Who called the fire department? Was the fire extinguished by the fire department? What is the red paint on the street? Could it be gang graffiti? Usually when Arson is called the firefighters have ruled out an accidental cause or do not know the cause and call for an investigator. The cruise control in Fords that started fires in cold cars is well documented. The following questions do NOT answer on the internet but be prepared to answer. How is your finical situation? Have you had any problems with the car?(The owner is always a suspect that must be eliminated just be truthful and don't get upset.) Have you had any disagreement with anyone. Is your car usually parked where the fire started? If not, why is it parked on the street. I'll stop here as you can see investigators will have a hundred question for you...if they are good. The plastics in the headlight were a fuel for the intense heat. I hope they can accurately determine the cause of the fire. Please keep us updated!
In Tulsa a few years ago, we had a rash of vandals putting burning rags or paper, or something like that on top of a vehicle tire. Of course that set the vehicle on fire. It is only a guess, but since your right fender looks like where the fire started, that could have been the cause and the big bang you heard could have been the tire blowing up. Just an idea, but it did happen several times where I live.
thanks for all the info. i am learning quite a bit about my prius (i am not too proficient in mechanical car talk...just a gal who loved her prius). i will definitely report in with any findings from toyota. hopefully, that will be soon...
Hi Texdon, Those wheel well liners are Polyethylene, or some other polyolefin. That kind of plastic melts quickly, and turns into pretty potent liquid fuel. Rags under the wheel well could be it.
oh, to answer your questions real quick... not sure who called the fire dep't. - probably a neighbor as i live in an area where there are several small apt. buildings so there were plenty of folks who could have seen it...especially since a lot of people are getting ready or leaving for work at that time. and i was actually the one who called the arson investigators, just because everyone that saw the pics told me i should. (i have been in a little bit of shock since it happened, so just kind of going on the advice of others right now until i get my bearings) and i LOVED my car, had no problems with it. it only had 4k miles on it. absolutely no problems. i have no financial problems, no domestic probs, no enemies... i am pretty boring. again, will keep you updated with any info. thanks again.
If a burning rag was to be placed on top of the passenger tire, that could have BLOWN the tire as okiebutnotfrommuskogee have said. That could have been the BANG or the explosion sound (was it a loud POP or was ir a BOOOM?). My assumptive narrative: Some punk-nice person kid walking down the street early morning decides to set something on fire and places it on top of the passenger tire under the wheelwell because he is very jealous of this awesome car. The small fire melts the wheel liner and feeds on it, making the fire bigger. By this point, the suspect is far away from the car. The fire gets bigger and eventually blows the tire. POP! More melting rubber for the fire. Fire flares over the fender, leaving the mark, and spreads inside the engine bay. All those hoses, wire insulation, etc. all become fuel and fire dept comes to put it out. Feasible?
Sounds logical to me. (Excepting a punk-nice person kid being out of bed at 7 AM on a July morning doesn't quite sound right.) Some of the damage (hood through the windshield, etc.), could have been done by the fire department. They can make a real mess of a car by necessity. My neighbor's a fireman and he says they are trained to cut the electrical cables first on hybrids, but I doubt that had much effect on the way it looks.
I'd be willing to bet that it didn't "blow-up". The hood damage was almost certainly done by the firefighters gaining access to suppress the fire. Looks similar to the aftermath of many under-hood fires I've seen.
interesting that it is no where near the battery area nor gas tank. does she have mob connections ;-P
OK, let's eliminate the owner (you) as a suspect. (Good answers.) Did you see the car burning before the firefighters arrived? Please describe the area where most of the fire was coming from. Did the Arson Investigator arrive before the Firefighters left to maintain the integrity of the scene? If the Firefighters did not call for the Investigator What did they put as the cause of fire on their public document fire report? (it is required that they put a cause if they did not call Arson.) Also keep in mind that since almost everyone on this board loves the Prius they might be a bit bias to think that the fire was arson instead of a defective Toyota. Go with the evidence not speculations. Tires do pop loudly and can scare the out of you. If the Firefighters reported an accidental cause and it turns out to be arson, the defense will use the firefighters as witnesses to testify if a suspect is caught, that is IF the D. A. will even take charges. Have there been any other fires in the area, dumpster fires trash fires, fires in a field? The Investigator can do the search from the fire records database.
Note that she stated that she heard sirens and then the bang. It would appear that someone saw smoke that then progressed to a point where it caused an explosion. Could have been an electircal fire that was smoldering and then reached some gasoline vapors or something else somehow. I agree that it appears that some/much of the body damage was coused by the attempt to fight the fire. WIll be important to follow the investigation to see the cuase - internal or external. Thanks
Speaking as a former firefighter and current fire department paramedic .... My guess, as others have speculated, is that any explosion was the effect of the fire, not the cause. There are several air and fluid containing components in a vehicle that, when heated rapidly and significantly, will rupture with explosive force. The tire would seem the most likely source of the sound here. In addition, among other things, there are struts and fluid or gas-filled pistons (not sure which the Prius has) for shock-absorbing bumpers (which appear not to have blown here). Also as some others have guessed, the fire department probably caused some collateral damage -- a necessity to locate and extinguish hidden fire.
