On Thu, 15 Jun 2000, Mike Bultemeier wrote:
> This leads me to ask the question. Has anyone seen a fire of consequence at
> an event?
When I was running in central Illinois in the early '80s, I remember
a guy with a modified Mini who had a plastic boat fuel tank strapped down
securely (or so we all thought) in the trunk by some large elastic straps.
Would have never passed tech today! It pulled loose on a hairpin and
sprayed fuel all over the battery (also in the back) and lit the whole
back end on fire. We found fire extinguishers to work just like they
taught us: point at base of flame, squeeze, and hope the fire goes out
before the extinguisher does. It only took two...we got the fire out
quickly enough that there was little damage -- he was back a month later,
with the rear end still bearing scorch marks. Needless to say, we paid
special attention to the fuel tank -- another plastic boat tank, but held
down by two wide metal straps screwed to the body this time....
This was only a year or so before the VW I was driving caught fire -- not
at an event, but out in the middle of I-40, with only one little fire
extinguisher within reach. In this case, the extinguisher ran out long
before the fire did....
Jamie
'92 Prelude Si
Speed Demon Racing
http://www.mindspring.com/~jsculerati/sdr
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