Labor Day weekend 2011 is one I will never forget. My best friend and I were working on my Jeep Cherokee in his workshop barn upgrading the gears. Deciding to take a lunch break, I walked to the house and checked my phone. I had five missed calls from my mom.
Earlier in the day my friend and I had to go into town to the parts store to pick up a bearing since the one that came with the master kit I purchased was the incorrect part. On the way back to the house we met up with my mom, step dad, niece and nephews who were taking their newly adopted basset hound dog to the vet nearby.
Fast forward an hour later. I call my mom back to see why so many phone calls. She is frantic and I can decipher is Jeep and fire. At first I am assuming they seen a Jeep that had caught fire. She repeats herself but slowly this time. After they had left the vet’s office they decided to go across the street to get something to drink at the grocery store. Apparently she tried turning into one of the old entrances that was blocked so she made a sharp turn. As she did she noticed smoke coming from the hood, found a place off the parking lot to stop and then the flames erupted. Luckily for her there had been a traffic accident just a short ways down the road and a fire truck was able to get to her in less than three minutes.
After digesting everything I got off the phone and told my best friend what had happened and that mom wanted us to come and get it. Apparently there were people already eyeing mom’s Jeep for parts and inquiring about it so she didn’t want to just leave it there.
Trying to imagine what had happened just turned my stomach. I love Jeeps and I hate to hear about stuff like this. Mom was nearly in tears when she finally talked to me so I could only imagine it was really bad. I remember as we neared the store I was trying to brace myself for what I was about to see.
When we finally pulled up I had a sense of relief that the only damage I could see was from the engine compartment. I mean I had briefly imagined the interior was affected too, but it wasn’t. Mike opened the hood to assess the damage. The grille was gone, the radiator damaged when the fireman had to use their ax, the electric fan was melted into nothing. And also the brake cylinder and booster were melted into nothing as was the power steering pump and there was absolutely nothing left of the air box except the skeleton of the air filter. The worst part was that the computer and wiring harness were burned beyond repair.
The fireman had told my mom they were declaring it a total loss. Mom didn’t want to hear any of it. At first Mike also said it was beyond repair and that we could take off the parts and sell what we could and then scrap the body so mom could get another one. That wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear either.
After we finally got it up on the trailer with the come a long we headed back home. I took pictures of it* and then had to use a tarp when it started to rain. Mom had the windows down which was a good thing. Apparently three of the doors had been locked at the time of the fire and she had two of her grandchildren and a niece with her.
Fast forward again to six weeks later. Mom was out of town visiting family in New Mexico when Mike and I started the Jeep for the first time since the fire. I was able to call her so she could hear it. She was nearly in tears when the sound of the engine could be heard.
Donor parts were used from a Jeep we had there at the house as well as what my brother in Texas could send from a Jeep Cherokee he had at his work. Some things had to be purchased new but that was okay. It was definitely a tedious job though it was a fun project to do since we had some doubters that it would ever be a useful Jeep again.
*Due to my laptop dying and taking the hard drive with it, I currently do not have pictures available to upload. However, I hope to be able to retrieve them in the near future.