Fighting fire

H. Kishie Singh

“Man charred to death,” said the headline in bold print. Blood curdling first thing in the morning.  And depressing. As always, it led to many phone calls from friends and fans of Good Motoring. They all wanted to know: How and why do these things happen?

It’s almost impossible to pinpoint the cause because the answer lies in the twisted, charred, burnt out hulk of the car where all evidence has gone up in flame and smoke. What is of concern is that the occupants could not escape from a fiery and agonising death. 

Most fires originate in the engine well. This could be due to an electrical short circuit, which causes sparking. It could be a ruptured fuel line spraying fuel all over a red hot exhaust pipe. 

The reason that the occupants cannot escape is that the battery, the wiring, the CPU and sensors have been burnt out. This, in turn, means that the central locking has been rendered useless. The doors stay locked and the windows can’t be lowered. Human lives are lost.  This does seem to be a recurring problem. 

So, is there a solution in sight?

Enter the fire ball. The fire ball comes in sizes ranging from a tennis ball to a foot ball. The size of ball is determined by the size of the room where it will be deployed. The first line of defence in controlling a fire is to suppress the source of oxygen. A tall order! Oxygen is freely available in the air all around us.

Also in case of a fire, people panic. Man is the only animal who can create fire, but he can’t control it. He is terrified of fire.

The fire ball is, to some extent, designed to suppress the oxygen level. Depending upon its size, the fire ball comes in a wire mesh cage that can be stuck on the wall in your kitchen, the engine compartment of your car or the foot-well in the front passenger side.

In case of a fire, the fire ball is self activating. The heat and flames activate the fire ball. It explodes and throws out a powder which suppresses the flames. It self activates, so there is no time wasted fumbling as with the traditional fire extinguisher. It is also safer because the powder is non-toxic to humans and the environment. A smaller fire ball has an effective radius of about 1.5 metres. It is effective only in confined spaces. A great advantage is that it has no expiry date. It will not respond to any false alarms. Only flames will activate it.

The main constituents of a dry chemical fire extinguisher are a derivative of baking soda or sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), which releases carbon dioxide to put out the fire. 

Housewives can make a very effective fire extinguisher at home. Take a one litre plastic bottle, half fill it with vinegar and add a spoon or two of baking soda. Punch a hole in the cap of the bottle.

Keep it next to your cooking range; this is where all fires start. In case of fire, shake it vigorously, point it at the fire and squeeze the bottle. Hey Presto! You will kill the fire!

Happy Motoring!