ICE cars are dangerous.

[ElSupreme]

I drive a good amount of interstate (I-285, I-75) in Atlanta. In the 7 or so years that I have had a car here I have seen probably a dozen car fires. So in the theme of " Gas stations are dangerous!! " I am putting up a photo I took last week of a car fire. I just missed the car (behind my B pillar) but the whole grass section between the onramp and interstate was also on fire.

 

[smorgasbord]

This happened not far from my house a couple weeks ago:
[video=vimeo;59564508]https://vimeo.com/59564508[/video]

A 1991 M5 - the last of the hand-built M5s. Couple hundred grand on the odometer.

The owner had driven just about a mile from his house when he saw smoke. He thinks it was leaves/pine needles that fell through the exterior air vents in front of the windshield that ended up resting next to resistor-based potentiometers that get hot when used to slow down fans. That doesn't seem right for only a mile of driving. The fire was surprisingly slow to get going (water & fire extinguisher didn't work by the time we got them to him), but I think there had to be some kind of fuel/oil leak to have it spread like it did.

Oh, and no boom. Apparently, in most cases something rubber burns away and the fuel drains out of the tank onto the ground. The big danger is an almost empty tank that has a lot of fumes, which are more easily ignitable.

 

[Doug_G]

Cars only go boom in Hollywood. (Yes, a nearly-empty tank full of fumes can be dangerous.)

That's a surprisingly tame fire for a car. I've seen them go up like torches.

 

[yobigd20]

I passed a newer corvette fully engulfed in flames not too long ago on I-95. I've seen a few other car fires too on the roads. Never really recognized what they were except for the vette.

 

[Doug_G]

How Ironic

Spotted this on my way to the bank a few minutes ago. :scared:

Notice the name of the business - "SAFETY HOUSE". :scared::biggrin::scared:

(No, I don't know why the minivan is on the lawn against the building, but it looks to have been a really bad idea. Three firetrucks and several other emergency vehicles arrived moments later.)

 

[satchy]

I worked for a short time with EMS in Rochester NY, and car fires were an almost daily occurrence, especially in the summer. They rarely make the news, and before I started that job I had no idea. I personally have had one of mine catch on fire, luckily not while I was in it!

 

[Doug_G]

Apparently the photo I posted earlier was the result of someone driving their Subaru Forester into the side of the building...

SUV hits Safety House in Ottawa, bursts into flames

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

5 women killed in limousine fire on Bay Area bridge - U.S. News

Just terrible.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

The danger presents itself at 4:13 in this clip in the shape of flames.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

5 women killed in limousine fire on Bay Area bridge - U.S. News

Just terrible.

I am really sorry for these women.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_23190154

Maybe that such a terrible thing wouldn't have happened with an electric car.

 

[Thumper]

ICE cars ARE dangerous but I am reluctant to blame the drive train for this particular tragedy since it seems to have originated in the passenger area only. We will see as the problem is investigated.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

We will see as the problem is investigated.

That's why I said maybe.

 

[Lloyd]

The danger presents itself at 4:13 in this clip in the shape of flames.

Just doesn't work in the real world does it?

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

ICE cars ARE dangerous but I am reluctant to blame the drive train for this particular tragedy since it seems to have originated in the passenger area only. We will see as the problem is investigated.

A leak from the gas tank or the fuel line ignited by the exhaust system?

 

[Raffy.Roma]

A leak from the gas tank or the fuel line ignited by the exhaust system?

We don't know what happened. To me it looks very probable that the gas tank has been involved to cause such a big fire. But we will know what happened only after the investigation.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

5 women killed in limousine fire on Bay Area bridge - U.S. News

Just terrible.

Exclusive: ABC7 News learns cause of fatal limo fire on San Mateo Bridge | abc7news.com

 

[stopcrazypp]

Exclusive: ABC7 News learns cause of fatal limo fire on San Mateo Bridge | abc7news.com

Looks like:
1) Air spring ruptured in rear
2) Rear of car dropped and drive shaft started rubbing against the underbody of the car (creating heat).
3) Rear of car may also have bottomed, causing the gas tank to scrape the ground and create sparks
4) Sparks/heat + fuel = fire

 

[EarlyAdopter]

This happened not far from my house a couple weeks ago:
[video=vimeo;59564508]https://vimeo.com/59564508[/video]

A 1991 M5 - the last of the hand-built M5s. Couple hundred grand on the odometer.

The owner had driven just about a mile from his house when he saw smoke. He thinks it was leaves/pine needles that fell through the exterior air vents in front of the windshield that ended up resting next to resistor-based potentiometers that get hot when used to slow down fans. That doesn't seem right for only a mile of driving. The fire was surprisingly slow to get going (water & fire extinguisher didn't work by the time we got them to him), but I think there had to be some kind of fuel/oil leak to have it spread like it did.

Oh, and no boom. Apparently, in most cases something rubber burns away and the fuel drains out of the tank onto the ground. The big danger is an almost empty tank that has a lot of fumes, which are more easily ignitable.

Glad that no one was hurt in this case. But it also has me thinking about all of the oil and gas that must have seeped out and either run off into the ground water or burned dirty and deposited particulate matter downwind. What a mess.

The governor of our state was recently asked if he though it was fair we let buyers of electric cars here not pay sales tax. He pointed out that the state pays millions upon millions of dollars every year cleaning up oil and gas spills from leaky cars and collisions. Millions that come from tax payers. Since electric cars will never contribute to that, it makes sense to him to give them a tax break. One of the best defenses to tax credits for electric cars I've ever heard.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Was Michael Hastings' Car Hacked? Richard Clarke Says It's Possible

According to this piece Hastings was driving a 2013 Mercedes C250 coupe when it crashed into a tree and caught fire.

Does anyone know if Mercedes will be conducting their own investigation? And if so, if they’ll make their findings public?

Photo credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times (No foul play suspected in Michael Hastings' death, LAPD says - latimes.com)

 

[brianman]

Kudos to the citizen (with the beard) trying to help by hosing it down. Not sure I'd be bold enough to be that close to do that without some protection though.