Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 10:31:27 -0700
Reply-To: Björn <bratjen@DIRECT.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Björn <bratjen@DIRECT.CA>
Subject: Re: IF Fire What Do? (long answer)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
At 11:55 AM 27/09/98 -0700, Bill wrote:
>There's been a lot of talk about Vanagon fire damage and fuel lines.
>But my concern is this:
>If I do have an engine fire what is the best action(s) to take?
>(I have a 90 Westy Syncro... gas tank close to engine)
>
You will notice a fire by the biting smoke smell of oil and plastic burning.
Smoke is usually dark and different from white steam you can see when a
coolant pipe bursts. Vehicles will not explode like you see on TV, but they
can light up pretty quickly if there is enough fuel for the fire. I have
attended many vehicle fires as a firefighter so here are some tips:
1. Stay Calm!
2. Stop the vehicle and get everyone out. People's safety always has first
priority.
3. As everyone gets out consider the safety: location, traffic, terrain,
weather. (I.e. Do not run into traffic.)
4. Take important belongings out of the car without playing hero, i.e.
passports, insurance papers, coats, blankets, etc. Consider that the smoke
is toxic.
5. Establish camp in safe distance upwind from car. Car fires can develop a
considerable amount of heat and various parts may combust suddenly. The
gases a car fire develops are very toxic. Gasoline runs downhill and may ignite.
Firefighting:
1. Determine location and extent of fire. If it is too big too handle back off.
2. Consider that fire needs basically three things: heat, fuel, oxygen. If
you cut one of these things of then you have no fire. I.e. in case of an
electrical fire cut off power. Consider which one of the three you can
eliminate.
3. Pinch the fire, limit spread. If you have a good size extinguisher a
blast from underneath in case of an engine fire may buy a little time,
however, it is not likely to extinguish the fire. (Remember that the small
extinguishers used in cars will usually last about 20 seconds and for
inexperienced users it will take quite a while until you have an efficient
aim. In other words, you will only have one shot.)
4. Get access to fire and put extinguishing agent at the base of the fire
with sweeping motion (see also my post on fire extinguishers.) Be prepared
before you open up your access to the fire. In case of an engine fire in a
vanagon you give the fire space to expand when you open the engine lid.
Camping equipment will catch fire quickly. This again is a judgement call.
The earlier you get the fire the better. But it is useless if you open the
engine lid without any means to extinguish the fire. Go slowly and reassess
the situation constantly. Be prepared for heat, flame and toxic smoke. You
can do serious damage to your health by inhaling too much smoke. Fires can
also reignite because there is usually a lot of heat left.
5. Before you get into things over your head, call for assistance.
6. Mop up, consider safety, is anything leaking from the car, can it reignite?
Stories:
While driving alone I once smelled smoke inside my 75 Bus. There was no
smoke visible behind the car, conclusion: electrical or heating. Being just
a minute away from home I drove there continuously assessing the situation.
I parked away from the house, took my registration papers and other
valuables out of the car. I got an extinguisher ready and observed smoke
coming from the heating vents. I first thought the gasoline heater had
caught fire but it turned out to be the big hose leading from the heater to
the front vents. I managed to rip it out and therefore remove the fire and
fuel from the car. I had stopped the car in a spot where it could safely
burn. Step by step assessment and controlled action could minimize damage.
As a firefighter I once attended a car fire of a Volkswagen Beatle. When we
arrived the driver had opened the rear lid and had thrown enough dirt into
the engine to extinguish the fire. That was good thinking, because you need
to overcome the inhibition to throw sand on your engine. In this case that
was definitely the lesser of the evils. Through his quick action he had
suffocated the fire (removed the oxygen) and saved his car.
A neighbour on a farm drove her fairly new Buick into the garage under her
living room. She forgot something and returned to find her car smoking. She
called her son and called 911. Her son tried to get the car out of the
garage. Because of its electronics he could not even get it into neutral. He
did not want to close the car door while he was inside because of its
automatic locking mechanism (good thinking). He finally managed to pull the
burning car out of the garage when the fire department arrived to extinguish
the fire. A close call for the house too. Calling for assistance in time had
been the crucial thing to do here.
Björn Ratjen
Mill Bay, B.C.
1987 Syncro Est Alia (self camperized)
1995 Passat TD
(1982 Vanagon Diesel)
1979 VW Bus (self- camperized)
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