r.i.p. xtr

[Lucas van Altena]

As some of you know i have also a westfield xtr8.
We build in this little sportscar an audi 3.6 v8.
i loved this car, but now, just look at the video.

Westfield on fire - YouTube
We haven find the corse, 1 of the hose from the catchtank went off after 7 years.
Spraying gasoline on the left rear tire and electric waterpump.

Here a video with cellphone of the burnd chassis.

westfield was on fire - YouTube

 

[Damian]

Sorry about the car but GLAD that you are O.K.

 

[David in Durango]

No course workers with fire bottles? Emergency truck????

sad to see that.

 

[Mike Drew]

So sad to see that.

That video is the perfect metaphor for everything that is wrong with socialism. Cornerworkers and fire truck crew have jobs for life, and they're going to get paid no matter what. Why bother trying to save your car, when they can just stand around and watch it burn with no consequences?

I can tell you--if you had exited the track here in the USA, the moment a puff of smoke appeared, the nearest cornerworker would have been right there, doing everything in his power to save your car, and the fire truck crew would have doubled his efforts.

And if a cornerworker stood around with an extinguisher in one hand and his thumb up his ass, that would be his LAST day working as a cornerworker!

As others have said, the most important thing is that YOU are okay. I'm just sorry that your car had to suffer because the people whose job it is to prevent it from coming to harm lacked the motivation to do anything to help you. :<(

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

We had a small fire on the 01 SL-C earlier this season and NO corner workers came running.... initially....not until they were motioned by Ryan, my driver to get their arses moving and bring an extinguisher with them...

We did not have any real damage and were out in the next race but it could have been much worse had the onboard fire system not done its job.

So it happens in the USA too....:stunned:

Glad you got out OK...sorry to see your race car die a slow death like that...

 

[Randy V]

Glad that you are okay..... That's the most important thing....

I agree with Mike... Had your fire happened during an SCCA race here in the states, there would have been corner workers all over your car with firebottles..

Two things come immediately to mind:
1) Why did you not have an onboard fire fighting system? A strapped in hand-held is about worthless as you found out..
2) Did you hunt down the stupid prick with the firebottle that did nothing but watch your car burn to the ground? I would have kicked his ass all the way to the fricken moon!

 

[Mark]

I was outraged when Im watched that before reading the comments above. Glad I'm not the only one who thought that Marshal was a TW*T

+1000 for a plumbed in system.

Glad you're OK

 

[Al Wohlstrom]

Glad you're OK, that looks like the same fire dept. we had in Durham, CT when I was a kid. Their claim to fame was that "they always saved the foundation!"

 

[Jimmy P]

Two things of note IMHO.....hand held Fire Ext's. ain't much good in situations like this and the workers at this track ain't much good period. In looking at the film it takes over two minutes for the truck to show at the first sign of fire and the corner worker (aka: SH*T FOR BRAINS) takes over a minute to show up and stand there. I would bet that most of us who drive our street cars don't have on board systems. Gives me pause for thought as to how much time is needed to get the rear clip open (pins and latches) to get to the fire in the first place. It won't be pretty.
Glad to see you walk away Lucas. You'll be back and thats a very good thing.

 

[John Fitzpatrick]

My God, forget the moron with a fire extinguisher that looks like it came from under a sink in the restroom, those two clowns in the "fire truck" make Buster Keaton and the Keystone Cops look masterful. #2 wasn't even sure how to unroll the garden hose. I realize these guys aren't military aviation crash crews, but baseball caps, white shoes, and nylon parkas for cryin' out loud? You'd think that somebody in the sanctioning body could at least pop for a couple of Nomex suits!

I've seen oval track drivers pull off and run to help a driver get free from a wrecked car-- what's up on this track? It looked like any of the passing drivers could have pulled off well clear of the track and helped, especially when you were trying to free the extinguisher and it looked like you might have gotten caught on something. Rules- poor form- self preservation?

I know how much of your late-night hours must have been spent thinking over better ways to mount this, or improve on that, and I really feel bad that you were the victim of serial incompetence. But as has been said, at least you're safe.

 

[Ron R.]

Sickening to watch.

In retrospect (make mental note here), I would take the extinguisher away from the cornerworker, and put the fire out myself.

I wouldn't worry about potentially being "banned" for it, at least I still have my car.

Second mental note...I need to plumb my GT.

Sorry for your loss, Lucas.

 

[Gus Richmond]

Lucas, Sorry to see the youtube clip.
One positive, it is a good visual aid to reinforce the importance of a decent fire protection system. Unfortunate for you, but thanks to your posting it has changed my opinion with regards to my car. I will be installing fire protection.
Once again sorry for your loss.
Kind regards, Gus.

 

[Lucas van Altena]

Hi all,

Thanks.
I´m ok, only had a bad night after 2 day´s.

The marshalls at Zandvoort are volonteers.
50 % is 50 years old.
But beter bad marshalls that no marshalls.
Btw i think that racecontrole will be the one which give the instrutions.

Today i will go to England to buy an other car, a Ligier JS49.

 

[Howard Jones]

My plan for my SLC just went up from a onboard 5 pound system to a 10# system.

I do have a 5 pounder in my GTD. I did it when I built the car and it cost about $350.
You can buy 10 pound pull systems all day long for under $600 and as little as $450. That's cheap!

The price of a set of rear tires. Think about THAT!!!!

 

[Scott Calabro]

Without drifting too much, its a very good idea to get some training in the correct use of a fire extinguisher. I have been fortunate to be able to attend a recurrent course at the Connecticut Fire Academy for several years now. I thought I new how to use a hand held bottle until I actually got the opportunity to use one under controlled conditions, now I can!

Its worth it to see if your local Fire Dept or similar offers this type of instruction.

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Without drifting too much, its a very good idea to get some training in the correct use of a fire extinguisher. I have been fortunate to be able to attend a recurrent course at the Connecticut Fire Academy for several years now. I thought I new how to use a hand held bottle until I actually got the opportunity to use one under controlled conditions, now I can!

Its worth it to see if your local Fire Dept or similar offers this type of instruction.

I'd second Scott's recommendation too. When working at RAE Farnborough, from time to time we had the opportunity to go on such training exercises using various extinguisher types including powder, foam, co2 etc and fire bottles for primarily aircraft related type fires but concept remains the same.

Until you've actually tried using one on spilt / spilling liquid fuelled fires you won't appreciate that some methods work better than others.... (& some barely at all!)

 

[John Milmont]

What kind of event was this? I don't do any serious racing, just a little club solo stuff. But from the video, it looks like the safety standards there are nowhere near what I'm use to. I cant believe the course is still active for pretty much the entire duration of the fire. I have been to events where there was accidents much less serious than this and the course was shut down immediately so the emergency crews could work.

 

[Chris Simpson]

It looks like a track day as the cars haven't got race numbers. Here in the UK I think the session would have been stopped. As others have said, it makes a good case for an on board extinguisher system. At track days here, there are not as many marshals as there would be at a race meeting, presumably as there are not nearly as many accidents - born out by my personal experience having done both racing and track days.

Chris

 

[John Milmont]

Would a extinguisher system even prevent a fire like this? Fuel might have been dripping on a hot part like the exhaust, and even with a extinguisher, the fire might have returned after the extinguisher is used because the exhaust is still hot and the fuel still dripping.

 

[Lucas van Altena]

It was a trackday at Zandvoort.
Few marchalls.
Cause was a hose from teh catchtank became lose (after 7 years).
Was spraying gasoline on the rear tire and exhaust.
I think a inboard system would not bin helpfull.

The Ligier js49, rebuild the xtr is more expensive.
ligier js49 - YouTube
ligier js 49 nacked - YouTube