Re: GEM Fire Burns House of Celebrity

["Lawrence Rhodes" <bassoon@jps.net>]

I am trying to contact Fire Investigation in Key West.  I will inform the
list of my findings.  If anyone else has the info please notify the group.
Lawrence Rhodes...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Goldstein" <goldie.ev1@juno.com>
To: <superman@bigplanet.com>; <evisiona2z@usa.net>;
<maltschuler@worldnet.att.net>; <corvoltman@aol.com>;
<davetex99@hotmail.com>; <rfreund@hpchs.cup.hp.com>;
<Skootercommuter@aol.com>; <rtg@ee.duke.edu>; <futurev@Radix.Net>;
<evnews@bellatlantic.net>; <lema@cnonline.net>; <clemenzi@cpcug.org>;
<gary@innevations.com>; <pfoss2@yahoo.com>; <evertonfrench@hotmail.com>;
<greg@zefiro.com>; <noemissions4us@aol.com>; <dcjarboe@erols.com>;
<BillM91360@aol.com>; <globalcooling@pstcomputers.com>;
<murtha@comcast.net>; <gparob@aol.com>; <ROlesch@aol.com>;
<dcpeaslee@erols.com>; <Perrydap@aol.com>; <grepok@aol.com>;
<restacey@ccconline.net>; <rick.reinhard@nissan-usa.com>;
<wrumbarger@aol.com>; <earyan@worldnet.att.net>; <cwscheck@abs.net>;
<mshipway@speakeasy.net>; <LSim676301@aol.com>; <sobelal@hotmail.com>;
<noco2ev@netscape.net>; <nationalcog@aol.com>; <mjkobb@alum.mit.edu>;
<HLGEORGE@southernco.com>; <ron@digitalactors.com>; <karn@ka9q.net>
Cc: <ev@listproc.sjsu.edu>; <ev1-club@cco.caltech.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 10:46 AM
Subject: Fw: GEM Fire Burns House of Celebrity


>   More negative fire publicity on EVs . . .
> Sensationalist New York Post calls GEM
> a "Hell Car" . . .
>
>   Obviously, there are many potential
> causes for an EV-related fire, including:
>
>  * a weak, overloaded, or shorted extension
>    cord,
>
>  * defective outlet (I have seen standard wall
>    outlets overheat and melt without tripping
>    a breaker),
>
>  * loose or shorted battery connectors,
>
>  * hydrogen gas buildup in an enclosed garage
>    (ignited by a spark or the flame from a gas hot
>    water heater)
>
>    Based upon a quick reading of this article,
> (". . . sending flames through her air conditioning
> system,") I would suspect the latter possibility,
> assuming that the Furnace/Air Conditioning
> system was located in the garage, as is typical
> in many Florida and California homes.
>
>   With small EVs like GEMs now being sold in
> West Coast COSTCOs without benefit of service
> contracts or direct customer support, it should
> be evident that more can and should be done to
> address *safety issues.*
>
>   It should also be evident that many fire depart-
> ments are still woefully misinformed or poorly
> trained to handle or investigate these issues.
> (Note this unfortunate statement related by a fire
> official: "Electric cars and golf carts are always
> overloading their chargers and burning up, but
> no one knows about it.")
>
>   I believe there is a need for a safety-related
> forum on this topic.  Some years ago, there
> was a joint DOE-EVAA effort to develop a
> safety training series on EVs for fire depart-
> ments and emergency medical technicians,
> and a similar and possibly related effort was
> initiated by the California State Fire Marshall.
> All of these efforts are now outdated, IMO.
>
>    Having been involved previously in the DOE
> efforts, I am putting out some feelers on this
> subject, with the hope that we can get together
> and discuss it in a public forum -- perhaps ETIC
> in Florida in mid-December?
>
>   For more information on ETIC, please see:
>
>             www.eticonference.com
>
>    Regards,
>
>    Dave Goldstein
>    President, EVA/DC and
>    Program Development Associates
>    Gaithersburg, MD
>
>
> --------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: josh <joshl@myrealbox.com>
> To: ev@listproc.sjsu.edu
> Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 08:23:23 -0700
> Subject: GEM Fire Burns House of Celebrity
>
> http://www.pagesix.com/pagesix/pagesix.htm
>
> >Firefighters who rushed to the scene told Webb that
> >good intentions often turn lovely homes into blazing death zones.
> >"They said they see this kind of thing with electric cars all the time,"
>
> >she says. "Electric cars and golf carts are always overloading
> >their chargers and burning up, but no one knows about it."
>
>
> >From Today's NY Post:
>
> HELL-CAR BURNS
> MODEL'S HOME
>
> By RICHARD JOHNSON with Paula Froelich and Chris Wilson
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
>
>  Veronica Webb
> - Photo by:
> Dave Allocca/DMI
>
> VERONICA Webb's eco-friendly electric car turned into a fire-spewing
> death machine the other night, burning down her Key West house and
> killing her beloved dog, Hercules.
>
> Despite her long devotion to various green causes, the six-month pregnant
> supermodel says she's through with electric cars after her Chrysler Gem
> overloaded while charging late last Monday night, sending flames through
> her air conditioning system and consuming everything in its wake.
>
> "We got the car because it was supposed to be great for the environment,
> but no
> one ever warns you how dangerous they are," Webb tells PAGE SIX's Ian
> Spiegelman.
>
> Firefighters who rushed to the scene told Webb that good intentions often
> turn
> lovely homes into blazing death zones. "They said they see this kind of
> thing
> with electric cars all the time," she says. "Electric cars and golf carts
> are
> always overloading their chargers and burning up, but no one knows about
> it."
>
> Among the hidden dangers, Webb says, were four hidden high-powered
> batteries.
> "There are four extra batteries that aren't shown in the [owner's manual]
> diagram. They need to be serviced but you can't service them if you don't
> even
> know that they're there."
>
> Luckily, Webb was in New York shopping for baby furniture when the blaze
> erupted, but her new husband, Wall Streeter turned amateur archaeologist
> George
> Robb, was asleep in bed. He barely escaped with his life. "By the time
> the fire
> department showed up, they didn't even go inside to look for survivors
> because
> they assumed that anyone left inside was long dead. They said George got
> out
> with 30 seconds to spare."
>
> Her devoted long-haired dachshund, 8-year-old Hercules, was not so lucky.
> "At
> first George called me saying Hercules had gotten out and was okay. Then
> he
> started saying he was cold. He wasn't breathing. He couldn't survive in
> that
> smoke."
>
> Hercules, who had a cameo role in Ben Stiller's "Zoolander," might have
> survived
> if Webb's Gem had been the only electronic device that malfunctioned that
> night.
> "Our $4,000 fire alarm system never went off," she says. "All of us
> blindly
> trust our fire detectors, and I would hate to see this happen to anyone
> else."
>
> Webb says that after her insurance company contacted Chrysler, the
> automaker set
> up several appointments to inspect the wreckage, but never showed up and
> never
> called to reschedule. A Chrysler spokesman did not return our calls.
>