Car Fires are Way too Common
You've seen it happen more than once. There is a traffic jam and you're wondering what caused it. Then you see a car fire on the side of the road and realize that car fires are dangerous for the operators as well as causing traffic jams because everyone has to slow down to look at it.
The 123-year-old National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that all car fires in this country account for more than 20% of all fires. In fact, a car fire happens in the U.S. every 1.5 minutes. Serious injuries and even fatalities are the results of vehicle fires, so if you know how they are caused, it's more likely that you will be able to prevent them and remain safe.
Here at Service King Babcock in San Antonio, TX we witness car fires every once n a while, so that’s why we’re providing this useful information to all of our blog readers.
Overheating Engines: While your car's engine probably isn’t going to overheat enough to catch fire all on its own, it can get hot enough to make the vehicle’s oil and coolant rise to unsafe temperatures. When this occurs, these fluids can easily spread throughout your engine bay and onto your exhaust system rapidly, where they can catch fire and spread.
Spilled Fluids: Your car has a wide range of flammable fluids beneath the hood from oil to gasoline or diesel fuel, transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid and not to mention engine coolant. If anything compromises any of your car's lines, hoses or reservoirs, several of them can easily catch fire when the vehicle is on and they are circulating. Whenever you combine an accident or a failed part with this scenario, your chance for fire increases significantly.
Electrical System Failures: Your car's electrical system is one of the most frequent causes of auto-related fires. A standard car battery’s charging cycles can create hydrogen gas, which can build up on the engine bay, thereby producing sparks. Faulty cables or frayed wiring are also another common cause for car fires.
Accidents: While most vehicles are designed with crumple zones which allows the sheet metal to absorb the impact of a collision, a hard hit can still cause a fire. Physics 101 tells us that leaking fluids combined with heat will equal fire. If you're ever in an accident, you may not realize what is leaking under your hood, so it’s a smart idea to always move away from an accident quickly.
Service King Babcock in San Antonio, TX
Sources: NFPA and AAA
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