Luton Airport fire: EV involved?

[Robin]

sorry - shd be "not comparable...."

[Colin Bignell]

I had one that dumped not engine oil onto my knee. An electrical fault behind the dashboard melted a plastic pipe that connected to the oil pressure gauge. No transponders in those days, just a direct connection to the gauge.

Quite a few. EVS are new. And when an EV

The Leighton Buzzard Fire Officer has now said that, although the fire started in a diesel vehicle, a number of electric vehicles were involved quite early on. The fact that the cars were parked very close together also contributed to the rate of spread of the fire.

[Colin Bignell]

Which doesn't change the figures given in the Fleet Manager report, of EVs having a 0.1% rate of fives, compared to 0.04% for ICE vehicles.

[Michael Chare]

I have not heard of a house with an oil boiler going bang like ones with gas boilers. If there is a leak you can see it unlike gas.

[Theo]

Noting that some 'plug in vehicles' are also petrol or (rarely) diesel cars, since PHEVs are both. How do we tell whether their fires are due to the electrics or the petrol side of things?

Theo

[jim.gm4dhj]

due to evs they will need more than 15m fire resistance now...

[Colin Bignell]

Short of catastrophic accident damage spreading fuel about, a fire in an ICE vehicle is mostly likely to be the result of an electrical fault.

However, there are about two fully electric vehicles for every one hybrid in the UK. Applying that to the 54 fires, that would imply that

36 fully electric vehicles caught fire. Even making the improbable assumption that none of the hybrids caught fire due to a fault in their electric side, that still gives EVs a fire rate of around 0.07% compared to the 0.04% for ICE vehicles.

[Paul]

"Andy Hopkinson, Bedfordshire's chief fire officer, said the service had "no intelligence than to suggest it was anything other than an accidental fire".

He said it was thought the fire started in "diesel-powered" <=== some kinda organic juice car and then spread through the building.

The car park did not appear to have sprinklers, <=== who needs 'em according to Mr Hopkinson..."

*******

Car fires seem to burn readily.

Link obtained from...

Sprinklers seem to be a relative modern invention.

This is why you put plastic bumpers on cars, as a Yule Log.

The two fires I've seen personally, seemed in no danger of spreading. Not enough wind I guess. One fire was particularly festive - the flames were the same colour as the setting sun. That was a Caddy that was burning. The owner popped the bonnet, so there would be a bigger fire :-) That's why there is soot on the ceiling of the car park.

They call that thing in your car, a "fire wall". Rather disingenuous when you think about it. There are plenty of other routes for mischief, besides the obvious.

When people were driving away from forest fires here this year, the damage to the vehicles included melted headlight covers, and melted side mirror housings. This is how you discover where the plastics are :-) No word on whether the bumpers were affected.

The tyres also represent a fuel load.

Paul

[JNugent]

An interesting perspective.

There'll be something in it.

[JNugent]

Diesel is not easy to ignite.

Ever tried it?

[JNugent]

Are diesel and petrol cars at the same risk of catching fire?

It seems unlikely.

Well, short of pouring lighter fuel onto the upholstery and throwing in a lit match.

[Tim Lamb]

Perhaps something battery powered in a boot over the fuel tank?

[Colin Bignell]

I've not found a breakdown for that. However, as the primary causes of car fires are electrical faults, accidents and overheating, I'm not sure that there would be any difference in the risk of catching fire. However, the fuel could make a difference to how the fire progresses.

[Colin Bignell]

They date from 1812, unless you count the one Leonardo da Vinci built.

[The Natural Philosopher]

latest i heard it was a 'diesel hybrid' :-)

[N_Cook]

Lithium batteries have their own oxygen supply so use of foam as in petrol/diesel/kerosene fires is useless. Also useless are the dry risers ,hence the policy of let them burn (no other choice) , hence destruction of the roof of this carpark. The Andover UK, Ocado distribution warehouse fire started with just one lithium cell in one robot, before setting off the others. Note they termed that an "electrical fault" . Presumably the recent Oz mega-battery national grid back-up fire was down to one cell , makes probabilities rather meaningles as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ive been having an other go at getting the Aga operational again. I had a cast iron burner full of diesel soaked charcoal and I decided to burn it off with a blowlamp. And THBEN scrape it. The diesel wouldn't stay alight tho. The whole burner design in an aga is about getting diesel vapour to burn, and it's quite difficult.

[alan_m]

How many torched as a result of crime - joyriding etc.?

Unless the figure is broken down to exclude deliberate destruction of the vehicle those figures may be skewed for what is being discussed here.

26,000 vehicles were reported stolen in London last year

[The Natural Philosopher]

not far off. since as others have pointed put, the possibility of an electrical short which is the main cause, is similar. But petrol cars go bang better when the tanks explode

[The Natural Philosopher]

Overheating seldom causes fires. Catastrophiic engine failure can though