I heard on the radio that LA and SF had more rain this summer than Seattle, and I think they said fires were a problem in Seattle and they were sometimes caused by cars dragging chains. Why do cars drag chains.
There are lots of other hits.
No idea. Farmers used to drag chains from combines to keep the potential between the combine and the soil at zero. That was supposed to lower the chance of a field fire.
Gasoline trucks, at least into the 1960's, dangled chains to bleed off static electricity.
It's true. I remember seeing those chains in tanker trucks back then. I have also seen cars using a wire strip to ground the statics so that that riders don't get a shock when they get in and out of the car. I wonder why they don't do it anymore. I suspect that modern tires have carbon or graphite embedded in the tire rubber, so that the tire rubber is not a perfect insulator anymore, therefore a grounding chain/wire is not required.
Car Anti Static Strip, Earth Belt, Ground Wire Strap
What's similarly "fun" is how the hoists in helicopters work.
If you catch a video of a Coastie holding onto the cable as she's lowered down to rescue someone in the water, you'll see she's _above_ the weight.
Two reasons: One is for stability, and the other is there's a _hefty_ static electric charge in the copter, and rest assured you do NOT want it going through you into the water...
Or thick rubber strips iirc, but now the tires conduct electricity enough to bleed off any charge.
I have a new pair of sneakers, Everlast brand, that several times in one supermarket gave me a shock when I touched a shelf. Never happened before. Their floor didn't seem unusual but I don't remember which supermarket it was. I will pay more attention in the future.
To discharge static electricity.
Sometimes it is their chains for attaching trailers to hitches that they are not careful about dragging the ground.
Off roading with hot catalytic converters will light grass on fire at times too.
A person I worked with managed to do that with a Forest Service pickup. We managed to get the fire out before it spread. I'm paranoid enough that unless I'm parking on mineral soil when I'm in the woods I'll look under the car or make sure the pipes on the bike aren't touching dry grass.
Safety chains improperly installed when pulling trailers are the main culprit.
To make noise? I don't know why, but some people do things because they're annoying.
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One hot, dry summer we had several fires around here. IIRC, they were all started by the same truck. I wasn't right there. but I was close enough to see smoke.
Also, that year people were donating sports drinks to firefighters.
A few years back here in Ontario when we had a particularly hot dry summer many cars were destriyed at a concert or car show (CAN'T QUITE REMEMBER WHICH) WHEN A HOT CONVERTER IGNITED A FRASS FIRE INTHE FIELD USED AS A PARKING LOT.
I found it - Lavender festival in Niagara On The Lake in July 2018. 19 destriyed and 15 others damaged.
Now when fields are used for parling they are generally mowed and raked/baled to remove flamable long dry grass.
Last week I read an example of this on NextDoor. 18-year old girl, saved for years to buy a 2008 Lexus, in really good condition. Wasn't an organized event, just some kids getting together in a field, and not the cat either I think, only the engine compartment. I told them not to kick themsleves, that the only people who know not to park on grass are those who have already heard a story like theirs.
I thought the car could be saved, and asked to see it but he didn't get back to me. Can't you replace the battery and every non-metal part in the engine compartment for a reasonable price? Low compared to buying another car. Because theyre expensive, wouldn't Lexuses be still in junkyards with all their hoses, plastic bottles and lids, wires and connectors. At least one somewhere in the country. What am I forgetting?
They're about to start selling electric cars with extra noise. Not just so a blind man can hear it coming but louder than that.
Had a small fire in my 1980 Corolla (overheated converter due to engine deiseling when shut off) that burned the carpet, console, and driver's seat. Would have burned a lot more if my wife hadn't turned the hose on it!!!!. Insurance wrote the car off. I bought it back and repaired it with junk-yard parts and we drove it for another 3 ir 4 years - but I can easily see a lexus being a write-off from a grass fire.
In 1970 I lent my car to a 19-year old, and 15 minutes later he called me. "Where should I tow it?" Heck, I was from out of town.
He had run a stop sign in a school zone (the sign was obscurd by a camper parked right in front of it, but he was from Racine and he should have known he was approaching a more important street) and he got hit in the left front.
I ran over to where he was and rode with the tow truck to sears. I asked the sears guy to pull the fender away from the tire. (I could have done this before being towed, but that's okay) And I drove away.
The car pulled strongly to one side. A day or two later I went back and asked him to aligh the wheels. He said I don't think I can. I said Do your best and I promise not to complain. He didn't mearsure anything more, took out all the shims from some place on the left, and by golly the car drove straight ahead even with my hands off the wheel.
But it did ruin one tire fairly quickly. I had the car for 2 to 4 more years until the city of NY towed me away for parking in front of a chuch in a house that only had services twice a week, with a license plate made out of masonite, painted white with black numbers (becuause the original had fallen off along with the bracket.) Two or 3 days later, I found a record of the car in a city tow yard but they claimed they had crushed it. They claimed they never opened the trunk and took out all my tools.
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