803 fire notes

[12LaPaz]

Like Myself, I am sure many of you read Camerons post a while back on fire, after reading it I was thinking this makes a lot of sense and we should all be paying more attention to this subject, as some of you know we encountered a fire at the SCORE SF COC and we came out on the loosing end, Here are a few things I can say about being prepared for a fire.
I think when most of us are mounting our fire extinguishers in our cars or trucks we are wearing street clothes and of course our race vehicles are parked right side up in our shop, we get into the car and find a place and say "yea this is a good spot" not thinking about where that spot will become if we are upside down or on our side after a crash, the things we can reach with the car upright may be out of reach once the car is in a bad position.
The other thing is when we pick that perfect place we are not wearing a helmet or our head and neck restraint system or our belts, many of the things we can see without a helmet disappear once the helmet is on & if its hard to see it might not matter if we remember where we mounted it, we may not be able to get to it without seeing what we are reaching for, that was one of the things that kept us from having a chance to extinguish our fire.
Trying to get out of a car on fire is something none of you want to find out about first hand so look at your cars & trucks and make sure your mounting points are going to be good under extreme conditions the life you save might be your own or your co drivers.
In our case it was the hot ATF that leaked out of the transmission that was the most volatile & caused the fire to be fueled beyond control.
On another note I will be looking to purchase some parts to get Beny back to the desert for some more racing, anyone that has something useful drop me a line & let me know what you might have available.

Thank You

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[Zambo]

Good points. The thing that really seems to get people is the trans. I haven't experienced a trans fire but from what I have read, the thing gets so hot that when you put the flames out it just flares back up again. I've also heard that your typical chemical fire extinguishers don't cool very much, they just snuff out flames so I was thinking pretty hard about putting a water based extinguisher in my truck in hopes that water would cool a hot trans enough to save the truck.

[pjc]

AFFF must be part of your preparation.

[12LaPaz]

One of out team members was telling me he had an ATF fire on his chase truck, the ATF was running out of the transmission on fire and all he had was a bottle of water, he said spraying the water on the fire was just like spraying gas on it, the water caused the fire to spread even faster, so don't use water on a chemical fire. Hopefuly there are a few experts out there that can shed some more information on this subject.

[pjc]

One of out team members was telling me he had an ATF fire on his chase truck, the ATF was running out of the transmission on fire and all he had was a bottle of water, he said spraying the water on the fire was just like spraying gas on it, the water caused the fire to spread even faster, so don't use water on a chemical fire. Hopefuly there are a few experts out there that can shed some more information on this subject.

Again, Use an AFFF or Coldfire-AFFF system.

Firecharger seems to be the strongest brand for AFFF.

[12LaPaz]

Again, Use an AFFF or Coldfire-AFFF system.

Firecharger seems to be the strongest brand for AFFF.

Thanks for clarifying that.

[oldman dirt]

no TT, class one or other high speed car should be without at least one 10lb flame out...........PERIOD--any car for that matter
I am a poor class nine racer but I have two bottles in my car (FLAME OUT) a ten and and a five lb.and a remote on the rear cage. 5 nozzles total and it has been TESTED for spray pattern and coverage, and I wear a 5 layer quilted suit. Mark Anderson is a good friend and Beny a LONG time friend Glad both are ok.
We never think about fire until it effects someone...............
The window net latch Mark talked about is also a issue...........
I have been in a trans fluid fire with my wife riding shotgun-it is NOT a fun experience !

Water only works on METHANOL-----------------------------------

[pjc]

no TT, class one or other high speed car should be without at least one 10lb flame out...........PERIOD

Halon or FM2000 (Flameout) is worthless in an open cockpit or open engine compartment car. I urge you as well to look at FireCharger or ColdFire AFFF systems.

[miguelitro]

I would also like to point out that those of us who are just lowly spectators need to carry equipment for our own vehicles in case of fire but also be prepared to help racers and other spectators in emergencies. extra extinguishers, shovels, drinking water, a well equipped 1st aid kit, cpr training, and the will to go help.
Mike

[MARXICO]

During this incident I first turned off the battery switch before any fire started the first indication of fire came from under the hood at the air cleaner and began to grow, I was still belted in and couldn’t reach the fire extinguisher after I realized that wasn’t going to happen I began to un buckle my belts and that was a struggle because I was hanging horizontal, my body weight loaded the belts making it more difficult to undo than sitting upright..
There was a wave of flames coming from under the rear hood and now thru the driver’s window,
I was unable to open the window net latch ,it was the small seat belt latch style, I normally have to take off my glove to push the button because it is recessed and so small, I don’t know if the internal mechanisms is made of plastic and melted or it was just difficult to trigger.
At some point I saw Art spraying the rear extinguisher thru the front window but it was not enough
The cab is now totally engulfed with flames and the window net now had me trapped, fortunately it was the net style rather than the strap style, I was only able to escape after the window net burned away and I was able to crawl out too escape. If I had to wait for the strap style net to burn away to escape I would not be here to share this with you. Had a knife been located by the window I don’t know if I would of been able to locate it or even open it, fire creates a limited time frame
I was wearing a multi-layer suit that held up incredibly, the only burns that I received were from burning plastic dripping on me mainly the net , my back was burned by the plastic Johnson & Johnson first aid kit that melted to my back.
This is what I learned.
1) A multilayered fire suit is never too expensive, if you can’t afford one wait until you can it was hot out that day but the suit was not uncomfortable.
2) Practice fire drills as mentioned above
3) Buy the proper fire suppression equipment, not a cheap unit just to pass tech.
4) Use a lever or spring loaded rod window net release system rather than the seat belt type for the reasons I mentioned above.
5) Locate the window net release system at the top of the A post area. I believe this should be a mandatory location .If a car rolls over and is upside down it is easier for a course worker to find rather than having to try and locate it by sticking there head thru the front window looking upside down trying to find it behind the door. When you roll and are upside down you are looking at the roof, wearing a head neck restraint system limits how far you can bend your neck to look down and find the release under the window that is now covered in crap that has been flying around the cab
6) My pumper hose and radio hook up along with my HNR system tangled up, I don’t have an answer how to correct that but is defiantly an issue that need more research.Expect that everything you have fastened down in the cockpit to fly around and relocate like the flammable first aid kit box
7) I urge everyone to update your safety program, if money is an issue simply miss a couple of races and use that money to get updated
8) If you have a single layer fire suit at least buy nomex underwear