Safety Guide – Vehicle Fires: Everything you need to know!
Vehicle fires claim thousands of lives each year. We give advice on how you should react, if you ever find yourself in this unfortunate situation!
Data from the US shows how important it is that road users are aware of the danger of potential vehicle fires. In the US, more individuals die from vehicle fires than they do from apartment fires each year. Data reveals that nearly 1/5 of all fires involve vehicles.
The US fire department responded to an estimated 278,000 vehicle fires during 2006, resulting in 490 deaths and 1200 injuries.
Of these vehicle fires – 75% were caused by bad maintenance, mechanical/electrical failures or general malfunctions! Collisions caused only 3% of these fires!
While explosions from vehicle fires are rare, this is not what makes them dangerous. What makes them dangerous are the toxic fumes. Cars are made up of many synthetic materials that can emit deadly gases when they are set alight. The most prevalent of these being a lethal concentration of carbon monoxide – an odourless, colourless and tasteless gas.
Apart from the harmful gases, fires also cause the obvious burn injuries from temperatures reaching upward of 815 C. Flames can also shoot out reaching distances of up to 3 meters and more. Parts of the vehicle can also burst and shoot out deadly shrapnel a great distance away. Fires can even cause the airbags to deploy, which are themselves, explosive devices.
The causes of vehicle fires
Vehicles fires usually start off slowly in the early stages, but escalate quickly once they get going. This means that most of the time, occupants have the time to escape and avoid injury. However, in cases where an individual is disabled, asleep, intoxicated or too young to escape – serious injury or death can often occur.
Most vehicle fires start in the engine compartment. Motor vehicles contain many flammable materials, including: flammable liquids (petrol and oil), as well as solid combustibles such as the car’s interior upholstery. Fuel leaks from ruptured fuel lines also can rapidly ignite.
When a brand new vehicle (or one which has had very recent repairs) burns, failure of the manufacturer or mechanic to safely tighten all fluid connections is usually the cause!
Car batteries also pose a fairly unique hazard – hydrogen gas evolved in the electrolysis reaction will ignite readily when exposed to high enough temperatures. This results in an explosive dispersion of battery acid.
About 15% of vehicle fires originate in the passenger compartment. The main causes of these are electrical short circuits and cigarettes.
Preventing vehicle fires
Vehicle maintenance and inspection are the most important things to remember, in order to prevent vehicle fires. This should include the following:
- Have your vehicles inspected at least once a year by a trained professional.
- Do not leave any loose or hanging electrical wires, make sure everything is where it is designed to be.
- Include a check of the fuel system in your regular maintenance schedule. Electrical and fuel system problems are the major causes of car fires.
- Watch for fluid leaks under the vehicle, if something is leaking it means that this flammable liquid could be exposed to high temperatures.
- If the same fuse blows more than once, this is usually an indication of an electrical problem. The faulty wiring or component could very likely cause a vehicle fire!
- Check for oil leaks and always use a funnel when adding oil. Oil spilled on a hot exhaust manifold can cause a fire.
- Clean the vehicle regularly – any flammable trash that makes its way anywhere near the engine could cause a fire.
- Avoid smoking in the car!
- When driving – Be alert to changes in the way your vehicle sounds! Or any visible plumes of exhaust fumes coming out of the tailpipe.
- Observe your gauge frequently – Check if the temperature is rising.
How to react to vehicle fires
At the end of the day, if your vehicle has a strange odour or there is any kind of smoke coming out of of it, something isn’t right!
A burning car is a death and not somewhere you want to be, smoke accumulates quickly and the rising heat makes the gas tank a ticking time bomb. First priority is getting out of the vehicle ASAP!
Here are some things to remember:
- Stay calm and don’t panic!
- If the vehicle is moving, pullover! Fire feeds off oxygen and any kind of forward motion will force air into the engine compartment.
- Turn off the engine – this stops the flow of petrol to the engine and any faulty electrical currents.
- Once you’ve stopped and the engine is off, put the vehicle in park or engage the hand-brake. Making sure the vehicle doesn’t move anywhere when occupants are trying to get out.
- Don’t worry about your belongings, get out of the vehicle first and assess the situation before you concern yourself with material possessions.
- Move a good distance away from the vehicle (20m or so) and be careful of other traffic.
- Do not open the hood or trunk if you suspect a fire! This could result in air rushing in feeding the fire.
- Be cautious of attempting to put out the fire yourself. There is a risk of an explosion and the toxic fumes emanating from vehicles fires.
- Inhalation of toxic fumes are the most common form of fire-related death!