OT: Fire at Moss Landing

Not enough *in itself* to cause a fire.

Back in 1987 I was walking along the local High Street and I saw a car with smoke and flames pouring out of it's bonnet. Approaching I saw the occupants had made it out and were standing in disbelief at the car.

The car was stopped at a pedestrian crossing. I can only assume that the fire started so rapidly the occupants only just had time to get out - not even pull the car to the side of the road.

Given a regular auto 12V battery will happily reduce a 6" nail to molten metal, the energy in a battery - of any stripe - needs to be respected.

I've never had one catch fire, but I have been present (twice), when other people's cars have set on fire - both were caught immediately and extinguished. I have also seen a number of burning vehicles on motorways.

However, figures from Norway (which has a much higher percentage of EVs than most countries) seem to show ICE cars setting on fire more than 25 times as often as EVs (adjusted for relative numbers).

And it was rare for cars to catch fire

Exactly.

I had a vehicle sort of "catch fire" nearly fifty years ago. It was caused by part of the wiring loom having shifted slightly (a stay had broken) and being impacted by the bonnet when closed. It took me a few hours to cut out the damaged few inches, substitute soldered-in replacement lengths of wire and re-bind that part of the loom with PVC tape, as well as packing the area into which it had previously shifted so as to prevent repetition.

But nothing to do with the fuel system, as you say.

Based on what you say, it sounds more like the wiring (I've had that!). A petrol fire is usually pretty catastrophic. Diesel rather less so.

He was writing in the present tense.

Can you remember any reports of fires like the Luton Airport one from forty-five years ago?

Or even a report of a house fire where a motor-bike had been stored in a hallway? See reports of E-bikes on fire for contrast.

See above. Wiring or fuel?

I was following someone down the motorway once. I could see the puzzled look on his face as I flashed my lights at him, and signalled left, finally persuading him to pull onto the hard shoulder.

I could also see the puzzled look vanish as he came to a halt, and the smoke started to come out of the grill!

Andy

:-)

Don't get me wrong: I've *seen* a couple of vehicles on fire over the years, but it's never happened to me, other than for a burn-out of a pinched loom which was easily, if laboriously, repaired.

One morning, when turning the ignition key in my Mk2 Cortina, lots of white smoke suddenly billowed out from under the bonnet. I immediately bailed out sharpish. The culprit was the capacitor in the distributor, and it had gone (presumably partially) short circuit.

My parents (in their mid-70s) were happily pottering along in their Mk2 Escort when it suddenly burst into flames. It ended up as a totally burnt-out shell, and they were lucky to escape injury (or worse). The cause was never found.

When you say "it suddenly burst into flames", the central point of the conflagration must have been apparent.

Was it, as one might expect, the engine compartment?

Probably - but I expect they didn't hang around to analyse the precise cause. And as it was 350 miles away, and some 40 years ago, they are no longer in a position to supply further information.

It probably was. In general that's where the high current unfused wires are - going to the starter or alternator - and when they short its bad bad news. Another well known insurance scam was to park the car miles way and encourage the petrol feed to 'come off' the carb. "I was driving along and suddenly - Woof! The fact that petrol vapour needs a spark to ignite could be taken care of with a suitable 'loose connection'. :-)

Very handy if your morris marina had big ends like a rattle snake, no brakes and a failing clutch and had rusted through the shock towers...

This is a picture of what the facility looked like. A turbine hall building that had been re-purposed for battery racks. The report said the roof on this building had collapsed.

OK. Fair enough.

My original question (first quoted para above), though, was whether there had been a fire which was something to do with the fuel. And your answer, strictly, is an "I don't know"!

I'll take your word for it (but it is very credible).

Most 'ohmigawd it's on fire' moments in car repairs have been electrical shorts. I had raw petrol dripping on the exhaust manifold once as the heat shield between them was missing..,It never caught fire. Petrol is however once ignited a place you don't want to be

I still think that Li-Ion batteries are a far greater hazard. They carry more energy and cant be put out.