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Mustang GT Catches on Fire!

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Wow it was like the track crew had no clue on how to put this fire out. @blacksheep-1 tell us what these guys did wrong on putting out this fire.

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/22/mustang-gt-bursts-flames-texas-drag-strip-video/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUWli15JPJQ
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
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If it was a nitrous fire, there's not really much they can do, since there is a constant feed of accelerant from the nitrous bottle(s) until they run dry or the solenoids melt shut.
They can't put forth enought CO2 from the fire bottles to choke it out.
 

302 Hi Pro

Boss 302 - Racing Legend to Modern Muscle Car
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Well true, it's was a Nitrous fire at first and you could see the nitrous line blowing out flames from the grill. But, the Fireman throwing the axe in the middle of the hood was clueless on opening a car hood.

Then the 40 MPH sustained head wind didn't help their efforts either.

When they did get the hood open, the aluminum was like rubber from the heat.

Shame to see anybody loose their car this way and glad no one was hurt.

302 Hi Pro
 
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This is my buddy's car at Stingray dragstrip..as a retired firefighter I can tell you when things go bad, they really go bad fast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coma0YBiwrA
 
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VoodooBOSS said:
Wow it was like the track crew had on clue on how to put this fire out. @blacksheep-1 tell us what these guys did wrong on putting out this fire.

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/22/mustang-gt-bursts-flames-texas-drag-strip-video/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUWli15JPJQ

The fire extinguishers they used are a pressurized water type with an additive such as Coldfire (http://www.coldfiredirect.com/Cold-Fire/?gclid=CPLx39Gf3MsCFcQkhgodUN8DqQ#) and is the normal weapon of choice for small fires because it doesn't hurt the electronics, leaves little residue and can be washed off. These are the extinguishers you see in NASCAR, IndyCar..PWC...everywhere. The problem is that a nitrous fire burns so hot that those extinguishers don't readily work. You have to cut the nitrous supply off to get the fire out (in the case of the roadster, when the kill switch was turned off at the back of the car, things got better). In the case of N2O fires you go from small extinguisher to fire truck in a big hurry. Last year's PWC race at Barber when the Cadillac burned down, was the same, the high pressure fuel injection system was compromised spraying fine misted fuel over the engine compartment, same with any modern, injected cars...including our Mustangs.
IF there is a fire, the first order of business is to hit the kill/ignition switch FIRST.

Here's an article I wrote recently....

Fire Extinguisher Basics..

There’s nothing worse than watching your investment burn to the ground in front of you with no chance of saving it. After being in the fire service for 32 years I can still see the look on people’s faces as they loose all they own. Since we all have a significant amount of money and sweat hours in or vehicles I thought that I’d write an article on fire extinguishers.
I’ll tell you up front not all of this is my writing, I’ve pirated it from many sources. When I worked for the city of St. Petersburg (think St. Pete Grand Prix) I ran the pit road fire suppression team for years, since it was an SCCA race in the mid 80s to the current Indycar and sports car format.
There are two main types of fire extinguishers: stored pressure and cartridge-operated. In stored pressure units, the expellant is stored in the same chamber as the firefighting agent itself. Depending on the agent used, different propellants are used. With dry chemical extinguishers, nitrogen is typically used; water and foam extinguishers typically use air. Stored pressure fire extinguishers are the most common type. Cartridge-operated extinguishers contain the expellant gas in a separate cartridge that is punctured prior to discharge, exposing the propellant to the extinguishing agent. This type is not as common, used primarily in areas such as industrial facilities, where they receive higher-than-average use. They have the advantage of simple and prompt recharge, allowing an operator to discharge the extinguisher, recharge it, and return to the fire in a reasonable amount of time. Unlike stored pressure types, these extinguishers use compressed carbon dioxide instead of nitrogen, although nitrogen cartridges are used on low temperature (-60 rated) models. Cartridge operated extinguishers are available in dry chemical and dry powder types in the U.S. and in water, wetting agent, foam, dry chemical (classes ABC and B.C.), and dry powder (class D) types in the rest of the world.
There is no official standard in the United States for the color of fire extinguishers, though they are typically red, except for class D extinguishers which are usually yellow, water and Class K wet chemical extinguishers which are usually silver, and water mist extinguishers which are usually white. Extinguishers are marked with pictograms depicting the types of fires that the extinguisher is approved to fight. In the past, extinguishers were marked with colored geometric symbols, and some extinguishers still use both symbols.

The types of fires and additional standards are described in NFPA 10: Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers, 2010 edition.
Fire Class Geometric Symbol Pictogram Intended Use
Mnemonic
A

Ordinary solid combustibles A for "Ash"
B

Flammable liquids and gases B for "Barrel"
C

Energized electrical equipment C for "Current"
D
(none) Combustible metals D for "Dynamite"
K

Oils and fats K for "Kitchen"
Fire extinguishing capacity is rated in accordance with ANSI/UL 711: Rating and Fire Testing of Fire Extinguishers. The ratings are described using numbers preceding the class letter, such as 1-A:10-B:C. The number preceding the A multiplied by 1.25 gives the equivalent extinguishing capability in gallons of water. The number preceding the B indicates the size of fire in square feet that an ordinary user should be able to extinguish. There is no additional rating for class C, as it only indicates that the extinguishing agent will not conduct electricity, and an extinguisher will never have a rating of just C.
FWIW, I much prefer an AFFF extinguisher over anything else, the halons work OK and don't leave a residue but if the object is still hot and their is fuel around it could easily reignite..and often does. The dry chem can work on everything electrical to fuel to magnesium (depending on the type) but are acidic in nature and will cause all sorts of problems with the electrics. While the AFFF can't be used on electrical fire (house current and above) it can be used on vehicle electrical and fuel fires. since it is mostly water the residue can easily be cleaned up and it has the advantage of covering a fuel fire and preventing re ignition.
For everyday use in my garage I keep and old school water extinguisher that you can fill up yourself and charge with an air compressor, except I add a product called Cold Fire..which basically breaks up the water droplets, lets the water soak into upholstery and it also has a positive effect on fuel fires.

Here's the fire extinguisher you are looking for, try to find the older ones with the schrader valve in them so you can fill them from a tire chuck, if you can't you will have to cobb together some adapters to "back fill" it through the nozzle end (it unscrews, just press the handle to open the valve and read the pressure gauge to see when it's full) You can find these extinguishers all over the place in surplus so don't buy a new one...say 25 bucks should do it and don't get the old ones with a riveted seam. I keep one within arm's length whenever I'm welding.
Link:http://www.amazon.com/Kidde-466403-Extinguisher-Gallon-Stainless/dp/B001ECQ5M0

and the additive
link:http://www.coldfiredirect.com/Cold-Fire/?gclid=Cj0KEQiA1eyiBRC-qI2VzKf0vaUBEiQAUiZ3xKtdpHRyiQq2SvIDJjF-MzyLiImhIDnvceKvKwj2zygaAkgW8P8HAQ#

You can also use AFFF in this extinguisher and although AFFF is expensive your local FD can probably let you have some residual out of an open container, you only need about 10-15% for the 2.5 gallon extinguisher..whatever that comes out to, so it's not much, we used to keep all of our extinguishers on pit road exactly like that.


This happens to be the system that I use, please note that it is not FIA compliant so check your rules before buying an extinguishing system. This has all the things that I like AFFF and is rechargeable by the operator.

http://augustamotorsports.biz/firecharger-2-3l-afff-racing-fire-bottle-extinguisher-system/
 

302 Hi Pro

Boss 302 - Racing Legend to Modern Muscle Car
2,009
441
Southeast
blacksheep-1 said:
This is my buddy's car at Stingray dragstrip..as a retired firefighter I can tell you when things go bad, they really go bad fast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coma0YBiwrA

Whoa, that was some very nice work in the rescue of the driver! The lead pit lane worker who was up front with the fire extinguisher was fearless and I would be surprised if he was not injured, (burn legs?).

Gosh, this really brings home the danger that can happen in both Drag and Road Course racing. I am now committed to buying a fire extinguisher mount and updating my fire extinguisher. No longer worried about saving a dollar on this next mod.

Thank you so much for sharing.
302 Hi Pro
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
7,530
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WinterSucks said:
They didn't even have proper gloves, jeens, synthetic looking jackets, took forever for the guys with jeans and fire jackets to show up... One guy didn't even have gloves...

The gloves were probably left in the training manual on the page that says, How to make water come out of the Hose.

No sure they would have saved much if they knew what they were doing.

I got the impression the fire team were used to getting paid for showing up on Saturdays and sitting around with little to do. Then when they were needed they could not perform.

Shameful performance
 
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Well the key to stopping a fire in a N2O equipped car with huge fuel pumps is to cut off the power, this is why drag cars have the master switch on the back, and in the case of the roadster, you can see things get better when the worker flips the master switch off. With an injected car, fuel misting along with N2O, don't be surprised if you lose the front half of the car, that's a tough combination to put out, even with a fire truck standing bye.

This i9s O'Connel's car at Barber last year, supposedly it was started by a oil hose bursting and spraying the headers, the fire was going well before the car was stopped. There was also a rumor that the onboard extinguisher system malfunctioned, but I could not confirm this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYF7NsLcirI
 
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I know I'm reviving an old thread but it's safety related. This is our Porsche going up at Utah, a couple of things happened here, apparently a large oil spill (not engine related BTW) dumped oil onto the lower pan which surrounds the headers which lit immediately. The driver parked it and baled, hitting the extinguisher button on the way out. Incredibly, the closest fire truck was sent to a brush fire, just off track surface, moments before the car lit. As such, they were delayed from responding immediately to the car.

yJXYGUgt.jpg

HklTGAat.jpg

ulQGSAzt.jpg


FWIW, this is a textbook fire response, the firefighter was close enough to react, but not close enough to get caught in the original flash, the pin was out of the extinguisher. The fueler stood still and let himself be extinguished, although IMO he probably got some fuel into his shoes. First priority, the human. the fuel rig (deadman switch) and the car...perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqBaTk1wJis
 
1,022
99
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Texas
If they had been wearing gloves they could have opened the hood and put the fire out maybe saving the car. The driver even had the wherewithal to open the hood release before he bailed.
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
7,530
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Illinois
Fromthe writing on the back of the fire fighter attempting to put out the GT, it appears to be a volunteer fire fighter.

Training and experience levels with volunteers varies greatly. Is he an academy grad? Likely but when? Recurrent training?

Unfortunate for the owner. If he is like me, he may carry track insurance for a road course but not at the drag strip.

Makes you think.
 

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