Last December, I was walking home, preparing for a flight out of town that day, when I looked over at my van and saw one of the doors slightly ajar. Nothing else looked wrong, until I walked over and discovered that the entire inside of the van had been burned to a crisp. Many of the windows had been blown out. The hood had been forced open by flames.
It’s very strange trying to comprehend the fact that someone has set your vehicle on fire and destroyed it overnight. It took a while to set in. It was a bizarre smell of burnt wires and metal. The vehicle and everything in it was ruined.
This was the view of the front seat.
And just like that, the “Magic Van” that had taken me to all 48 lower states was gone.
Getting over losing my van
Oddly, I wasn’t broken up about losing my travel van. That’s because a few months earlier, it had been stolen, and even though it was recovered a day later, it was never the same. I know my vehicles like a mother knows her child, and I could tell something just didn’t feel right. Something in the engine was off. It felt like it was going to stall every time I stopped at a red light.
Because of that, I no longer trusted this vehicle to take me anywhere beyond the city limits, so I had already resigned myself to getting rid of it. The fire just sped up the process – and saved me lots of money in car insurance, to be honest.
I didn’t lose a whole lot of material things inside the van. The biggest item was a set of old golf clubs, which I miss, but I rarely get to play anyway.
Also, the police did not bother to investigate either the car theft or the fire. The cop said he was marking the fire down as an “accident,” as if the van decided to set itself on fire at 3 in the morning. Had I been more clear-headed, I would have protested. But really, it didn’t matter. As noted earlier, I needed to be rid of the vehicle one way or another, so I let it go.
The tow truck driver speculated it had been mistaken for a gang vehicle. In any case, if you’re looking to steal or blow up a car, come to Chicago- the police won’t even attempt to apprehend you!
Moving forward without a vehicle
I still have not replaced the vehicle. In Chicago, you can easily get around by foot and by bike. I do want to replace it with another vehicle, perhaps (cringe) an SUV. I know, they guzzle gas, but I need a vehicle I can sleep in.
Actually, my dream would be either a VW van or a super old-school mini Tioga. That will take many more months of plugging away at the freelance writing gig, but it will all be worth it to drive around in one of those!
That is awful. I would be stunned to find my car burnt to a crisp. And that is good to know about stealing or setting fire to a car in Chicago. I may need to make a trip that way. 😉
Thanks Christy. Chicago is still worth visiting, for sure.
wow, that’s really terrible. Don’t you wonder what goes through the minds of people who would do something so horrible to someone else like that. Despicable, IMO. But good for you not getting hung up on it 🙂 Nice site, btw.
that is CRAZY! i mean, they had a lot of car fires during the LA Riots but I can’t believe that the CPD would just let a car fire go like that! 🙁 Farewell, Mystery Machine…i’m sure you had a lot of fantastic memories in that van!
I have never had a car on fire but I did have an old beast of a 1984 Nissan Multi and it was tough parting with her for only 150 bucks – which was probably 50 more than she was worth.
Imagine if you were sleeping in it!!! I think you had a lucky escape. If it was insured, did you get a decent payout for the damage?
Good luck in finding a new traveling bed — and keeping the style police (that’s you Caanan) happy.
No, it was bare bones coverage so there wasn’t any payout.
Despite the fact that you didn’t trust the van after it was stolen, it’s sad that someone torched it. Thank goodness you weren’t sleeping in it.
There ain’t nothin’ quirky ’bout a friggin’ SUV.
Love, the bleeding heart left coast liberals.
I just realized this might have come of as totally insensitive. 🙁 You lost something important and I used the opportunity to send you into a shame spiral about an SUV. I am a horrible person.
You gave us a teaser about this story a bit ago, and I’ve been wondering what happened! I can’t believe someone just lit your van on fire. Who does that??
Sorry to hear about your van Scott, considering it has brought you many places. I hope you’re looking into getting a new set of wheels 🙂
I can’t believe the police wouldn’t even bother to report it as vandalism. I’m glad you weren’t attached to it, but it’s still terrible that someone would do that, especially when it’s sitting right in front of your house.
Sorry about that, Scott….it is ridiculous that the cops didn’t even bother to do anything about it. I guess it’s an indication who’s winning in the battle of good v. evil. I hope that you get your Tioga….you’re right, you need something that you can sleep in which will save you untold cash in not paying for a hotel room.
That’s horrible, sorta.
It is hard to comprehend that someone would light a fire in your van. That is harsh.
here you go!
flint.craigslist.org/rvs/2523451239
Thanks! 🙂 Ideally I would like one of the super-small ones that is only the same length as a regular truck, but those are harder to find!
That’s a very disappointing response by the CPD! At least you’ve handled it all well and are looking forward to new wheels. I didn’t know that gangs are partial to travel vans. But why else would someone burn a vehicle, I guess.
I was happy I discovered it that morning before my flight. Otherwise, I would’ve been out of town for a week, and the vehicle would have been sitting there and probably gotten towed and I would’ve had to pay those fees. So it could have been worse!