Minor Crash Causes Devastating Fire?

Again, it's not unusual for *any* vehicle to catch fire if tipped onto its side, especially upside down. What makes the Prius "dangerous" in this respect? The photos clearly illustrate the batteries had NOTHING to do with the fire

Around 10 years ago, I came across an early 1990's Chevy truck on fire at an intersection. The power steering high pressure hose blew, sprayed hot power steering fluid all over the hot motor, and up it went

As an aside, it's a good idea to carry a fire extinguisher on board. I've gone through 5 of them, helping assist other motorists

Remember, with an underhood fire, NEVER try to open the hood! You could be killed, or badly burned. As I stated in an earlier thread, things like engine coolant, and windshield washer fluid, are highly combustible. So are the other fluids, eg brake fluid and power steering fluid.

Try to aim the extinguisher into the rad itself, a larger extinguisher will usually be able to spray through the rad. Or, get down on the ground and spray UP into the engine bay

Don't stand by a front wheel to spray into the wheel well area. A tire can explode if exposed to fire. Safety first, if in doubt, wait for fire/rescue. A car can be replaced, an eye or a life can't

 

I don't know of any car with that feature. The new Sequoia has that feature, my FJ Cruiser does not

 

i saw a $100,000 Ford Thunderbird Convertible go from overheating to completely destroyed. i was going to my sister's house to drop off my niece a few years ago... saw this immaculate late 50's T-bird sitting on the side of the road.

stopped asked if i could help (he was quite a ways from a phone or anything else for that matter...at least a 3-4 mile walk) he said he was fine and that roadside assistance was on its way. he had the hood up and you could see what i thought was basically a boil over.

i went 2 miles up the road, dropped off my niece, talked about 5 minutes and left. i got back to the car, it was completely gutted and the fire department was basically hosing the weeds down around the car to prevent any spread...

in less than 15 minutes, it burned to the point where there was no way you could tell what kind of car it was... in fact, what was left did not even look like it was a complete car at all. later that week, saw a write up in the paper, the car was one of only about 50 -60 left in the world.

 

As a precautionary measure, I am printing up "emergency response guide" to store in an area in the car other than the location of manual.
It can't hurt to have quick access to this information, if needed. My motto is "be prepared, if possible".

 

When I lived in Utah, I used to see that once in awhile. On I-15, driving from Mesquite, Nevada, into St George, UT, through the Virgin River Gorge. A steep grade, combined with +110 F temps, caused a lot of cars, pickups, and semis to overheat.

Sometimes to the point of catching fire. Remember, engine coolant is actually flammable

Or, on I-80, driving east of SLC towards Parley's Summit. Same thing, steep grade, hot summer temps, lots of boil overs and some fires. Another place to find boilovers was driving north of Heber City, another very steep grade

Even if the vehicles didn't boil over, they ran so hot going up the grade, they lost a lot of power. Back then, I used to have a 1068 Chevy C-10 pickup with a 350 crate motor, and a custom 5 row rad, but no A/C.

That huge rad, and a Flex-a-lite HD fan, meant I could blow away any vehicle on a steep grade climb. I once shot past an unmarked UHP car, then at the top where the scenic lookout was, I pulled in to take a few photos of the valley below

The UHP car finally pulled up next to me, and the officer said "just what the HELL do you have under that hood?"

I opened the hood and pointed out the huge rad and fan. He just smiled, shook his head, and drove off. I also pointed out the large commercial fire extinguishers I had in the cab, and mounted in the box