Narrative:

Pushed back from the gate and during the start attempt of the left engine we were initially unable to get any N3 rotation. Called maintenance who came out and was able to get N3 rotation via a manual start from the ground. When we introduced fuel we got no light off and the engine would not start. We consulted the QRH and maintenance via the interphone who advised us to make further start attempts. Under the guidance of maintenance we attempted purging fuel (dry motor) and restarting the engine two or three more times including switching igniters. When we exhausted all available options we pulled back into the gate and maintenance came on board.we discussed the problem with maintenance who then took over dealing with the problem. Nothing had been written in the book as of yet because the problem was ongoing and I was unsure of what the write up was going to be and assumed they would get the engine started and the appropriate logbook write up would be entered by myself or the maintenance personnel.the mechanic suggested that I could start the engine with passengers on board; but that the passengers had to be removed if he was to start the engine. My reply was twofold:1) this engine has been messed with for over half an hour. Multiple start attempts; air issues; etc. I felt it was not in a very stable condition and it was unwise to leave passengers on board given the state of the issue in progress and both the time it would take to repair and the potential safety issue.2)the mechanics (I believe there were 3) were working together and didn't need me to be in the mix further so I suggested we get everyone off the plane and just let them do what they need to do without interruption.we deplaned everyone and I left the aircraft. I was informed about 30 minutes later that the airplane had had an engine fire. No crew or passengers were on board and both my first officer and I were in the terminal when the fire occurred.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Aircraft engine after pushback would not start after several attempts. Aircrew elected to return to the gate and call Maintenance. Troubled engine caught fire while Maintenance was troubleshooting.

Narrative: Pushed back from the gate and during the start attempt of the left engine we were initially unable to get any N3 rotation. Called Maintenance who came out and was able to get N3 rotation via a manual start from the ground. When we introduced fuel we got no light off and the engine would not start. We consulted the QRH and maintenance via the interphone who advised us to make further start attempts. Under the guidance of Maintenance we attempted purging fuel (dry motor) and restarting the engine two or three more times including switching igniters. When we exhausted all available options we pulled back into the gate and Maintenance came on board.We discussed the problem with Maintenance who then took over dealing with the problem. Nothing had been written in the book as of yet because the problem was ongoing and I was unsure of what the write up was going to be and assumed they would get the engine started and the appropriate logbook write up would be entered by myself or the maintenance personnel.The mechanic suggested that I could start the engine with passengers on board; but that the passengers had to be removed if he was to start the engine. My reply was twofold:1) This engine has been messed with for over half an hour. Multiple start attempts; air issues; etc. I felt it was not in a very stable condition and it was unwise to leave passengers on board given the state of the issue in progress and both the time it would take to repair and the potential safety issue.2)The mechanics (I believe there were 3) were working together and didn't need me to be in the mix further so I suggested we get everyone off the plane and just let them do what they need to do without interruption.We deplaned everyone and I left the aircraft. I was informed about 30 minutes later that the airplane had had an engine fire. No crew or passengers were on board and both my FO and I were in the terminal when the fire occurred.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.