Narrative:

Just as the last passengers were boarding our APU failed. I got off the aircraft to notify a ramper that we needed a gpu hooked up as soon as possible. After I returned to the flight deck; the captain and I unsuccessfully attempted to restart the APU. I selected the APU off; and the captain selected the APU generator off; suspecting that might be the problem. We planned another start attempt in a few minutes. At this point the captain noted the main battery temperatures were slowly rising through approximately 58 degrees C (5 yellow dots). While we were monitoring the main battery temperature to see if it would stabilize or begin cooling; the genhot light and seconds later the starter light on the APU panel illuminated. We noted the odd indication; and I checked the load on the APU generator. It indicated approximately a -1.80 load. As I was reaching for the non-normal checklist; the master warning and check fire detect warning light illuminated. On the APU fire panel; the loop fault light was illuminated. Just a few seconds later the master warning and check fire detect began flashing again and APU fire light illuminated.the captain asked me to initiate an evacuation; since he was busy dealing with the APU fire indication. I commanded an evacuation out of the air stair door. I then called ramp control and requested crash fire rescue equipment to the gate because we had an indication of an APU fire. While I was helping the flight attendant with the evacuation; I began to smell smoke. I did a walk through of the cabin to ensure all the passengers were off the aircraft and then did an external walk around to see if there was any visible smoke or fire. I did not initially find any however maintenance personnel on the adjacent gate said they did see smoke coming from the APU access holes earlier. I told the captain and we made sure all power was removed from the aircraft. By the time crash fire rescue equipment arrived maintenance personnel had already opened the APU accesses. Smoke was coming from both of those doors when the fire trucks arrived. While the captain contacted maintenance control; I managed the situation with crash fire rescue equipment. Fire fighters monitored the area for approximately 30 minutes to ensure there were no subsequent fires. We completed the flight later with a different aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Dash 8 flight crew evacuated their aircraft at the gate when the received anomalous warnings and; ultimately; a fire warning for the APU which had failed and shutdown shortly before.

Narrative: Just as the last passengers were boarding our APU failed. I got off the aircraft to notify a ramper that we needed a GPU hooked up as soon as possible. After I returned to the flight deck; the Captain and I unsuccessfully attempted to restart the APU. I selected the APU off; and the Captain selected the APU generator off; suspecting that might be the problem. We planned another start attempt in a few minutes. At this point the Captain noted the main battery temperatures were slowly rising through approximately 58 degrees C (5 yellow dots). While we were monitoring the main battery temperature to see if it would stabilize or begin cooling; the GENHOT light and seconds later the STARTER light on the APU panel illuminated. We noted the odd indication; and I checked the load on the APU generator. It indicated approximately a -1.80 load. As I was reaching for the non-normal checklist; the Master Warning and Check Fire Detect Warning light illuminated. On the APU Fire Panel; the Loop FAULT light was illuminated. Just a few seconds later the Master Warning and Check Fire Detect began flashing again and APU Fire light illuminated.The Captain asked me to initiate an evacuation; since he was busy dealing with the APU Fire indication. I commanded an evacuation out of the air stair door. I then called Ramp Control and requested CFR to the gate because we had an indication of an APU fire. While I was helping the Flight Attendant with the evacuation; I began to smell smoke. I did a walk through of the cabin to ensure all the passengers were off the aircraft and then did an external walk around to see if there was any visible smoke or fire. I did not initially find any however maintenance personnel on the adjacent gate said they did see smoke coming from the APU access holes earlier. I told the Captain and we made sure all power was removed from the aircraft. By the time CFR arrived maintenance personnel had already opened the APU accesses. Smoke was coming from both of those doors when the fire trucks arrived. While the Captain contacted Maintenance Control; I managed the situation with CFR. Fire fighters monitored the area for approximately 30 minutes to ensure there were no subsequent fires. We completed the flight later with a different aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.