Wheel Loader Fire

CompactTractorFan · Mar 27, 2011

Just thought I'd share this story. Glad to here the firefighters are now OK...

Two firefighters injured in Bucks County | 6abc.com

groundcover · Mar 27, 2011

Scary stuff . Things can go bad very quickly ! We had a $400,000 feller buncher fire a couple of months ago , totaled the machine but at least no one was hurt.

BethesdaEC · Mar 27, 2011

I bet the it tire overheated and exploded.

Johndeere3720 · Mar 27, 2011

It is amazing how fast bad things happen. Glad the firefighters came out okay.

CompactTractorFan · Mar 27, 2011

Johndeere3720 said:
It is amazing how fast bad things happen. Glad the firefighters came out okay.

Yes, me too...

CompactTractorFan · Mar 27, 2011

groundcover said:
Scary stuff . Things can go bad very quickly ! We had a $400,000 feller buncher fire a couple of months ago , totaled the machine but at least no one was hurt.

Wow...How did the fire start?

CompactTractorFan · Mar 27, 2011

BethesdaEC said:
I bet the it tire overheated and exploded.

Maybe...

groundcover · Mar 27, 2011

Not much left when our guys got to it, well out in the woods with a couple of feet of snow to wade through while pulling hose. I didn't make the call but we believe a hose blew and the fire started from high pressure oil spray on the hot engine. It was equipped with a fire suppression system which was deployed but only knocked the fire down briefly.

SixHoeBob · Mar 27, 2011

Very quickly I recalled several safety videos about welding rims with tires mounted, or heating lug nuts with a torch. The videos explain that the air in a tire when heated, will cause the tire to explode in a big way. Sounds about like what happened to this loader as a result of the initial fire.