truck fire... lets hear the stories!

[tim21391]

well.. i almost had to lay the ol girl down to rest...my 72 (the one i did all the rust repair to with a buddy).. if it aint one thing its another.. had stuck front brakes so i fixed all that.. drove it a week and then the battery went bad due to colder weather... that sat for a few weeks.. then i figured since battery is bad lets tinker around.. opened up the caps and noticed two cells were dry.. filled them back up and it took a charge and went from a bad battery to a good battery after 4 charging attempts.. then slapped it in the truck and was fine for a day until the nightly cold temp.. next day it was done zo.. so it said for another few weeks.. then last night.. i go out to jump it since it hasnt ran for a month or so.. hooked the cables to my car then to truck then get one crank or two then poof the hydrogen gas spontaneously combusted and i had about a 6"-12" flame coming off my positive terminal.. wouldnt blow out.. couldnt smack it out.. and in the time of panic i reached into the flame bare handed since i dont have feeling in my fingers unhooked it and then began to smother the flame.. surprisingly the battery didnt blow up.. then today jumped the truck from the altenator and went and got a battery dropped it in and realized that fire took the starter out with it.. the starter was now arcing internally.. got a new starter put on... then had to run all new leads from the starter and battery.. and after a few hours and $100 im good as new.. hurray