:D Thanks for the info. :thumbsup:

My little fuel ball incident had me wondering what and how could the firewall be breeched. Fuel, oil, engine drivetrain grenade, etc.

At speed airflow will force liquid and flame toward the firewall.

If the wall is breeched footwell nozzels wouldn't be a bad idea IMO. Would the potential mess created in the interior compartment make you think twice about discharging the system?

Is one enough to cover the fuel cell?

What scenerio's would compromise the fuel cell, rear end/brake failure, fuel line/pump, major impact??

Having a bottle system and a good hand-held for minor incidents has merrit.

Very interested in hearing the fire suppression options and reasons.

i dont... so lets not!:D

You want steel between you and any fire. Aluminum
Sheet patches in the firewall will melt around 1100 degrees, steel at 2300 degrees.

All thoughts I have been going through over the past year.

Many systems just cover driver and engine. My cell has a 20 gauge steel container and my car has an aluminum (not sure of gauge) rear firewall.

Major rear impact or a rollover would be my biggest fear.

Still will have my 2.5 lb hand held behind my shifter.


And these fires reach what temp?

You need to put a fire out at it's SOURCE.... so where the fuel is...

That can be oil on a header if you're unfortunate to be up-side-down.... or fuel spilling out of the tank... from a breach... or a busted fuel line.

Or --- Give yourself enough time to wake your sorry ass up and get out of there!


I worked 3 years at Portland International Raceway (drags) and I've seen fires in all kinds of places.... and every time --- people would waste an extinguisher pointing at the flames -- when the source was under the car etc...


I'd be spraying an "automatic" system in the engine compartment -- and a couple in the driver area to give an exit... or give yourself enough cover time til the crews get there.

^^ Absolutely. That's why I wanted maximum nozzles and 2 pull cables. Wanna hit every possible area.

1 pull cable for both the driver and a passenger and on or near the A pillars so a track worker or someone could pull it too.

And I'd think fires are under the hood so that's why I was thinking 3 nozzles there -- 1 over each header and maybe one to the carb/intake.

for petrol based fuels: the highest expected consistent temperature should be somewhere around 900C (about 1650F) with fluctuations measured of up to 1250C (about 2280F). (out of one of my textbooks)

NHRA:9.3 ( I know, I know NHRA)

Nozzle placement is extremely important; two nozzles are placed at the front of the engine, one on each side, and one nozzle is located in the driver compartment near the steering column, minimum.

a decent starting guideline though.

Matt

FWIW - In my situation a somewhat major fuel system leak ignited and lead to a pressurized oil leak that was sucked down the bell/trans tunnel.

I was going 60 mph max, at 120 with more fuel and oil it could have been interesting.

Good stuff Matt. Yep, another key is to not aim the driver nozzles too high toward your eyes or face (waist and below I've read).

That is def scary. I was only going about 30 or so when my engine fire started.

Wasn't that bad, but a major engine grenade and oil fire could be without proper preparation. Especially if you're unconscious and the safety workers are slow to respond. Factoring the scenerio's and precautionary measures is interesting and challenging.

F1 in the 60's :wow: