[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by wheelguy

Xuv300 caught fire, details not known.

Hood and front tires seem ok, yet interiors are charred, front doors also have severe burn marks.

Seems like fire originated from inside the cabin.

[wheelguy]

Near Maa flyover, Kolkata. Hyundai Verna.

Source

[condor]

Sad incident of a BMW catching fire - looks like Mumbai. This looks to have happened about 3 weeks back.
(Sent to me by my friend, to share here)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTln0qHBpb0

[Sarvodaya]

How to Roast A Car

https://www.facebook.com/Idiotukdriv...40243856150637

[som9729]

https://telanganatoday.com/man-dies-...hyderabads-orr

As per reports, a Honda Amaze caught fire on Hyderabad's ORR.
One person inside was burnt to death. Police suspect this was due to short circuit in the car wiring.

The car apparently had time to stop on the side of the road, and didn't lose control/crash.

Questions to safety experts on the forum
1) Why/how would the fire spread so fast/big? Aren't some basic fire retardant materials used in cars?

2) Why was the person charred to death? Wouldn't a person have the time to stop the car and get out thru the door/window?
(The article states the person was 'trapped' inside the car)

I'm assuming a fire by a short circuit will not explode like a sudden fireball, but will rather take a few seconds or a minute atleast to spread across the entire car?

I understand there are many factors (including the person panicking) in such situations, and even if they wanted to get out, they may not have had the presence of mind to do so.
Point is to discuss the technical aspect of the situation.

[Indian2003]

Originally Posted by som9729

As per reports, a Honda Amaze caught fire on Hyderabad's ORR.
One person inside was burnt to death. Police suspect this was due to short circuit in the car wiring.

My car caught fire in 2007. I smelt burning plastics and saw smoke coming out of the bonnet area. I stopped and got out of the car and put out the fire myself, beating at the flames to stop it spreading. It was a leaking LPG line that caused the fire.

A passing camper had a fire extinguisher and we put out the fire in about 5 minutes before the fire department arrived.

There was no panic and that is what stopped the fire from spreading. Within 2 weeks the car was repaired and I used the car for another 5 years before I scrapped it at 333,000 km.

[gkveda]

Most dominant reason for cars catching fire is electrical short circuit and most probable reason for short circuit is, dirty job done by auto electricians while installing additional accessories. They will do all sorts of nonsense (few listed below) to ease their job and save some efforts. I am not sure if this car had similar issues but my post is generic.

Shady jobs done by auto electricians.
1. They remove rightly rated fuse and complete the circuit by replacing the fuse with copper wires.

2. To draw current to newly installing device, they cut some other live wire and does not do proper insulation (to save few inches of tape)

3. They don't do proper grounding since it requires thick wire and long enough to reach chassis. They will try and connect it to nearby negative cable although it may be thin.

4. They use audio wires to connect to devices which may not have capacity to run high currents for heating circuits

5. Amplifier circuit requires specially manufactured high current capacity cables for power. Our experts put low quality cables and charge extra from customers.


And the list goes on. How can we avoid this?

1. Unless we are 100% sure about the capability of the auto electricians, we should never go to some electrician to install accessories.

2. Never use local accessories or Chinese accessories. These are another major reason for fire. Always use IEC certified accessories.

3. Stick to Manufacturers installed accessories and be happy with it.

I am the person who takes the last option above and most conservative approach. Go for hi-end model of which ever car I select and stick to the stock accessories.

[Gansan]

Always install whatever accessories you want at the authorized workshop. Settle for whatever brands they offer. And live happily ever after. Don't go to outside installers, however "expert" they are.

[Indian2003]

Originally Posted by gkveda

Most dominant reason for cars catching fire is electrical short circuit and most probable reason for short circuit is, dirty job done by auto electricians while installing additional accessories. They will do all sorts of nonsense (few listed below) to ease their job and save some efforts.

One very common issue I read in the Indian forums i facebook are bad lights. They all want brighter lights and fitting the illegal 100/90 bulbs seems to be the holy grail.

They dont even look for issues like voltage drop at the headlights. Some dont even know what that means but recomend the 100/90 rally bulbs to others for brighter lights.

I saw a picture of a burnt circuit in an aftermarket setup with a relay and 100/90 bulbs. The 10A started to blow so it was replaced with a 30A! and the wire had melted. The feed to the relay was so thin that I guessed that it was not more than 1,5 mm. His neighbour had done the job for him.

The live feed to the relay was taken from another circuit in the engine bay and not the battery. His car was waiting for a fire.

[Nalin1]

Originally Posted by gkveda

Most dominant reason for cars catching fire is electrical short circuit and most probable reason for short circuit is, dirty job done by auto electricians while installing additional accessories. They will do all sorts of nonsense (few listed below) to ease their job and save some efforts. I am not sure if this car had similar issues but my post is generic.
1. Unless we are 100% sure about the capability of the auto electricians, we should never go to some electrician to install accessories.

2. Never use local accessories or Chinese accessories. These are another major reason for fire. Always use IEC certified accessories.

3. Stick to Manufacturers installed accessories and be happy with it.

I am the person who takes the last option above and most conservative approach. Go for hi-end model of which ever car I select and stick to the stock accessories.

Originally Posted by Gansan

Always install whatever accessories you want at the authorized workshop. Settle for whatever brands they offer. And live happily ever after. Don't go to outside installers, however "expert" they are.

Very well quoted above. There is one car accessories 'expert' in every nook and corner in almost every city. Letting them mess around with the car's wiring and electrical set up is the worst way of modifying or beautifying your car .

Dealers have almost all types of accessories these days and no reason to go exploring outside really. Exceptions are stuff like steering cover, side steps etc that are risk free.

When I was looking for DRLs, I found OSRAM L-shaped ones (that sit inside the headlight assembly) at an accessory store and was so tempted to go for it. The owner too was extremely confident of doing a perfect job. "We have done it on so many cars"!.

On second thoughts, checked with the dealer and he had the ones that sit below the headlights, but not as attractive as the OSRAM. But I still went with the dealer's offering only for safety reasons. 4 years later and 100% no issues.

Who knows, the accessory store too might have done an equally brilliant job!. But why take that risk and let it linger in your head?

[sanchari]

A car catches fire in Hyderabad. This is the 2nd time happening in around a month. In both cases, it was mentioned as electric short circuit issue. The earlier one was Honda Amaze. This one seems to be a Ford.

WATCH: Car catches fire in Banjara Hills, driver survives unhurt

A moving car caught fire on Road No. 10 in Banjara Hills on Friday afternoon. The driver managed to escape on seeing flames from the engine.
...
A short circuit in the engine is suspected to have led to the fire. The Banjara Hills police are investigating.

Earlier incident where a doctor unfortunately lost his life when his car caught fire on ring road.

Man dies as car goes up in flames on Hyderabad’s ORR

According to the police, a Honda Amaze car that got on to the ORR from Nanakramguda caught fire when it reached near Shamshabad. The driver was trapped in the car and was charred to death. On information, the RGIA police reached the spot and called in a fire tender which doused the flames. The body was later pulled out and shifted to the morgue.

The police suspect that the fire might have occurred due to a short circuit.

Wonder what is causing these fires to break out. The first assumption by police always seems to be electric short circuit. Could it be these cars had some modifications that might have caused these electric issues? Or anything else in the engine bay that might cause these issues?

[airbus]

Former Meghalaya CM’s son dies after car catches fire in Ri-Bhoi district.

The youngest son of former Meghalaya Chief Minister late E K Mawlong was charred to death when the car he was travelling in caught fire in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district on Saturday.
. . .
According to reports, the vehicle in which Ferdinand B Lyngdoh was travelling suddenly caught fire in Umran area on Shillong-Guwahati road. A police official in Ri-Bhoi district said the vehicle was completely gutted before fire tenders could even reach the spot.

[volkman10]

Now an Okinawa electric scooter catches fire, third fire incident in 10 days.

The scooter this time is from Okinawa, one of India's leading electric two wheeler companies. The first of the three videos shows CCTV footage of the scooter parked in a garage and being recharged in the night when a blast occurs. The two subsequent videos are from the morning that show a completely charred vehicle.

Link

[Sarvodaya]

Father, son charred to death as crackers they were carrying on bike burst into flames



https://www.thenewsminute.com/articl...-flames-157257

MODS: Back to back post. Adding video link. Please merge

Father, son charred to death as crackers they were carrying on bike burst into flames. Here is the Video link

[adisan]

Went through the last 10 pages of this thread. Unfortunately we never seem to get to know the cause of the fires, that would help us to take the due precautions.