Beetle burned in less than two minutes

Hi All, Thats right, an apparent electrical fire caused my 1999 New Beetle TDI to burn to a crisp in less than 2 mintues.

Ok this is how it happened:
I was leaving the parking garage at work, making a right turn onto the street, only to realize that a burnt rubber type of smell is emanating from the dash, on the drivers side of the car. When I look to inspect my gauges, I see some smoke coming from behind my speedometer. I decide quickly that I should stop and have someone look at the car. I am barely on the street. I drive another ten yards and make an immediate right
into a parking lot where I pull into the very first stall. The smoke is still coming out, but very not much. I turned the car off. Thinking it would be best to have someone look at the car. Better yet, I’d have it towed to the dealer to get the problem fixed. I open the door to let the smoke dissipate.

Within 2 minutes, the car is on fire. I was parked near the local hospital and some paramedics had radioed the fire department when they noticed the smoke. A fire truck showed up and they put out the fire.

All the glass was broken, the seats completely burned, the steering wheel and instrument panel were lost. The source of the fire seems to have been under the hood on the passenger side (the source of the most intense heat) The tow truck decided it would be best to disconnect the battery before moving the vehicle. The hood had to be pried open.

Like I mentioned above, this happened in a span of 2 minutes… from when I noticed the smoke until when the car was on fire. I am lucky to be alive.

My insurance company has offered 12000 for the car it only has 52000 miles on it and I wonder if it is worth pursuing with VW…

Has anyone else heard of a Beetle burning up like this before?

Thanks