B737 flight crew reported an aircraft behind them spotted an indication of fire on their #1 engine a...

Narrative:

Prior to event the first officer (first officer) and I discussed a write up for the incident airplane from the previous day where a fire had been noted in the number 1 engine by another aircraft as the crew taxied for takeoff. Also; on his exterior preflight; first officer observed that some fresh oil had pooled below the #1 engine. The mechanic who responded to our request for maintenance said that he personally serviced the engine overnight and that he had 'over-serviced' or overfilled the engine with oil. Given this recent history we were both sensitive to any issues with that engine.we were given a clearance to line up on runway xxl. Just before I was to begin the 90 turn onto the centerline another flight called on tower frequency that there was a fire in our left engine. I immediately shutdown the engine and without asking for clearance; I opted to continue straight ahead off the runway and onto the parallel taxiway. Meanwhile; the first officer requested emergency equipment. We ran both the QRH 'engine fire' and 'evacuation' checklists. We started the APU and I shutdown the number 2 engine. I opened the window to examine the engine as best as I could and noted some smoke but no fire. Because we had no fire indications from the flight deck and because the checklist doesn't specifically call for the use of a fire bottle without such indications; we discussed whether it would be helpful to do so. We opted not to do so unless the smoke continued or strengthened. I should also mention that once we finished all applicable items on the 'evacuation' checklist we maintained a continuous dialog with passengers and crew. Fire trucks arrived within 5-10 minutes and fire crew confirmed that the fire appeared extinguished and thermal imaging equipment indicated that the engine was cooling. They also reported that a significant amount of fluid (presumably oil) was leaking from the engine. I discussed with first officer the wisdom of starting the number 2 engine but decided that the few minutes saved over getting a tug wasn't worth the potential safety issues that come with adding an ignition source to whatever might be leaking from the left engine. Tug crew brought us to a gate and passengers and crew were deplaned.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported an aircraft behind them spotted an indication of fire on their #1 engine as they were lining up on the runway. The aircraft was taxied off and ARFF was contacted. They were towed back to the gate.

Narrative: Prior to event the First Officer (FO) and I discussed a write up for the incident airplane from the previous day where a fire had been noted in the Number 1 engine by another aircraft as the crew taxied for takeoff. Also; on his exterior preflight; First Officer observed that some fresh oil had pooled below the #1 engine. The mechanic who responded to our request for maintenance said that he personally serviced the engine overnight and that he had 'over-serviced' or overfilled the engine with oil. Given this recent history we were both sensitive to any issues with that engine.We were given a clearance to line up on runway XXL. Just before I was to begin the 90 turn onto the centerline another flight called on tower frequency that there was a fire in our left engine. I immediately shutdown the engine and without asking for clearance; I opted to continue straight ahead off the runway and onto the parallel taxiway. Meanwhile; the FO requested emergency equipment. We ran both the QRH 'Engine Fire' and 'Evacuation' checklists. We started the APU and I shutdown the Number 2 engine. I opened the window to examine the engine as best as I could and noted some smoke but no fire. Because we had no fire indications from the flight deck and because the checklist doesn't specifically call for the use of a fire bottle without such indications; we discussed whether it would be helpful to do so. We opted not to do so unless the smoke continued or strengthened. I should also mention that once we finished all applicable items on the 'Evacuation' checklist we maintained a continuous dialog with passengers and crew. Fire trucks arrived within 5-10 minutes and fire crew confirmed that the fire appeared extinguished and thermal imaging equipment indicated that the engine was cooling. They also reported that a significant amount of fluid (presumably oil) was leaking from the engine. I discussed with FO the wisdom of starting the Number 2 engine but decided that the few minutes saved over getting a tug wasn't worth the potential safety issues that come with adding an ignition source to whatever might be leaking from the left engine. Tug crew brought us to a gate and passengers and crew were deplaned.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1373370
Time
Date	201607
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 80 Flight Crew Total 17000 Flight Crew Type 11000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Total 13000 Flight Crew Type 2200
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Maintenance Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor Ground Incursion Taxiway

B737 flight crew reported an aircraft behind them spotted an indication of fire on their #1 engine as they were lining up on the runway. The aircraft was taxied off and arff was contacted. They were towed back to the gate.