4. car fires

• Car fires are quite common, with estimate of over 100,000 incidents per year.

• Most car fires are not the result of collisions but occur while the car is in normal use.

• However, most car fire deaths are in crashes.

• Deaths and serious injuries are most commonly caused by the inability to leave the vehicle instantly.

• Once the car is ablaze, rescue of passengers is extraordinarily difficult.

Do not remain close enough to inhale the fumes as these are extremely toxic.

Timing is everything.

• The reason that most cars fire deaths occur in crashes is not the increased frequency of fires, but the inability of the passengers to escape.
• Professional fire service opinion is that the occupants of a car which has caught fire have at best SECONDS TO GET OUT.
• ONCE A FIRE STARTS, it can rapidly accelerate.

What to do if your car is burning?

• Immediately pull over to the shoulder.

• Turn off the ignition.
• Exit rapidly and immediately.
• Get yourself and your passengers far away from the car.
• Call 911 and wait.

Although car crashes account for the minority of car fires, they account for the majority of fire deaths, as passengers cannot escape the car fast enough.

A significant number of car fires are probably related to fuel leaks. At atmospheric pressure, and given the right mixture of air and fuel vapor, unleaded gasoline will self-ignite at a temperature of approximately 400^oC. As exhaust manifold temperatures can be above 400^oC, there is therefore a possibility that fuel leaking from the carburetor above the exhaust manifold can cause a fire.

These figures can only be approximated, as many variable factors are involved in the ignition of hydrocarbon vapors. It should be noted that gasoline is not what ignites: the gasoline must vaporize before ignition can occur. baseline vaporizes below 0^oC.

In crash situations, fuel tanks or fuel pipes may be ruptured. Sparks may occur, as may electrical wiring shorts, giving a source of ignition to any petrol vapors present.