Fire in a car. What should you know?
Fire in a car. What should you know?
A fire in a car is almost more dangerous than in an apartment or any other room. This is not surprising, since a car is a closed space with a small area. In addition, there is a high risk that the doors will be blocked, and people will not be able to get out of the danger zone. To begin with, let's outline where and why acar fire is usually localized.
In most cases, a fire in a car starts under the hood of the engine — due to a ruptured gasoline supply line, or as a result of a fire in the carburetor or gas cylinder. Oddly enough, a car fire least often starts during a traffic accident, when the fuel system or gas tank is damaged. But in the passenger compartment, fires occur more often, the culprit being an unextinguished cigarette thrown out of the driver's window and sucked in by the air flow. In the overwhelming majority of cases, a car fireoccurs due to inattention to the electrical equipment and power supply system of the car, as well as neglect of basic fire safety rules, faulty pipelines — loosely tightened connecting clamps.
Car fire. What to do?
If you find yourself in such a situation, and, for one reason or another, a car fire begins, you should take the following mandatory actions in case of fire. First, stop the car, turn off the engine, apply the brakes and lock the wheels with the handbrake. Then immediately call rescuers: medical and technical assistance, firefighters. Remember, if a car fire starts, do not allow gasoline to leak under any circumstances: any object, a pebble, especially a cigarette, can cause friction, which can cause a severe fire. First of all, you need to disconnect the contacts by removing the key from the ignition. Firesafety of a car is that there must be a fire extinguisher in the car (different types of fire extinguishers can also be used in cars). Take a fire extinguisher and direct the stream at the base of the flame. If there is no fire extinguisher, you can use sand, earth, a cape, or clothing. A bag of water thrown with force onto the parts of the car engulfed in flames is also effective. However, car fire safetyis at risk if there is no fire extinguisher, so it is necessary to eliminate this deficiency and purchase a foam or powder fire extinguisher. If the fire has only affected the carburetor, it is enough to turn on the engine at maximum speed, which will help to extinguish the fire. If the car fire started in the rear part, where the gas tank is located, the only thing you should do is quickly move away from the car to a sufficient distance. Remember, if a fire in the car started from the passenger compartment — there is a very serious danger, since the fire quickly spreads along the upholstery, consisting of fabric, plastic and synthetic fibers. The process of fire spreading is significantly accelerated due to the influx of air, within 3-5 minutes the combustible materials of the entire passenger compartment ignite. In the second period of fire development, the main part of the combustible material (up to 80%) burns at a practically constant speed. The average volume temperature rises to the maximum value. As practice shows, the second period of fire development in the passenger compartment of the car lasts from 10 to 20 minutes. Car fire safety requires the presence of several mandatory items: a first aid kit with medicines, a fire extinguisher and a non-synthetic fabric cape. Remember, the first signs of a car fire can be identified by the smell of gasoline or burnt rubber in the cabin, as well as by the presence of smoke coming from under the hood.