[ramki.grandhi]

Royal Enfield caught fire and exploded in Hyderabad. 10 people injured, from video it looks like poor handling of fire could be one of the reasons. I might be wrong though!

Skip to 50 seconds to see the blast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH3U4dXp4bY

Twitter source: https://twitter.com/TeluguScribe/sta...80475558101303

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by ramki.grandhi

.. poor handling of fire

The horror with petrol is that if it ignites, it violently erupts into a fireball and splashes all over the people nearby and then engulfs them in flames with fatal burns.
Storing petrol in a can or carrying a bottle of petrol is the most hazardous thing to do. It has a low flashpoint and extremely dangerous.

Water is absolutely ineffective in dousing a petrol flame.
Sand is the next best option if no powder type extinguisher is handy.

[Gansan]

^^ Water will carry petrol fire to other places. Petrol will simply float on water and continue to burn.

[Samarth 619]

Originally Posted by ramki.grandhi

Royal enfield caught fire and blasted in hyderabad. 10 people injured, from video it looks like poor handling of fire could be one of the reasons. I might be wrong though!
Skip 50 seconds to see the blast.
https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=LH3U4dXp4bY
twitter source: https://twitter.com/TeluguScribe/sta...80475558101303

If they're using water, its definitely wrong.

I'm assuming a bit here, but the fire is due to petrol leakage contacting something hot, like the exhaust or an open flame.
And the blast is most probably due to petrol inside the tank coming in contact or a rare case, could be an aftermarket lithium battery.

A petrol fire burns at a temperature of around 2100*C. This is not a typical candle flame. Water itself boils at 100*C.
Its not possible to extinguish such a fire by water, because water itself boils on touching it, in fact water may spread the fuel causing further fire.

I quote from Fortis Fire website, "It is important not to use a water extinguisher on a Class B fire as water may spread the flammable material and cause the fire."


Only 3 solutions work for petrol fires:- a fire extinguisher based on 1. Foam Spray, 2. Dry/ABC powder, 3. Carbon Dioxide.

If someone regularly works in rallies/ rides where such fires may happen, I suggest checking this link out:- https://www.ifsecglobal.com/fire-ext...-extinguisher/

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by ramki.grandhi

Royal Enfield caught fire and exploded in Hyderabad. 10 people injured,

Why safety education is imporant!

Petrol inside a normal fuel tank is at 1bar pressure, or atmospheric.

Cook petrol from heat outside (which is from petrol, thus intense heat build up) - it becomes a molotov cocktail. (Google it)

If you have got grease under your nails in auto industry, you would have heard at least one mech/tinker/welder saying NO to applying heat near a empty fuel tank - they wont risk it.

[Aditya]

Royal Enfield Bullet catches fire | Explosion due to improper handling of fire injures 10 - Posts moved to a new thread.

[MT_Hyderabad]

It appears that the person opened the cap of the already pressurized tank.

[amol4184]

That video needs a warning for viewers - there is literally a person on fire as others run around while the cameraman keeps recording the burning person.

This is a stuff of nightmares.

[PreludeSH]

Never go near a vehicle with petrol stored in tank of tanker of any kind.

I wonder how will people get educated with Li batteries of keeping a long distance away. Its not their business to extinguish such fires.

[tchsvy]

Sadly, two people lost their lives in this accident.

https://www.siasat.com/hyderabad-bul...uries-3026534/

[Mrs&Mr_Shenu]

Sad to see people lose lives which could have been avoided with proper awareness.

Also, It would have been averted if a foam or powder based extinguisher was available nearby.

[alphamike_1612]

The people using wet sacks to control the fire are doing the right thing aren't they? Although i guess they should have placed the sacks and kept a safe distance.

Logic being preventing oxygen from being able to fuel the fire?

We are taught to do this in case of LPG fires.

The ideal thing would of course be a powder extinguisher, but where one is not found, isn't this a viable alternative?

[Joe367]

Originally Posted by Samarth 619

And the blast is most probably due to petrol inside the tank coming in contact or a rare case, could be an aftermarket lithium battery.

The person wearing red hat seem to have opened the fuel tank lid in an effort to stop the fire which seem to have caused the explosion. The petrol inside tank should be at very high pressure from the external heat - it will be like opening a pressure cooker on flame.

I guess the best measure if vehicle fires goes out of hand is to evacuate everyone to a safe distance, call fire force and just wait.

[Mitadru]

Why not use sand ? Just unload a bag of sand and don't stand near that flaming bike . This accident could have easily been avoided if they used a bit of their common sense. Everyone ( I hope) knows that oil floats on water, so water would be redundant in trying to extinguish a fire caused by it. Even better, they could have called the fire station, and they could have sent in firemen to handle the situation. I just shudder to think what will happen if an EV catches fire. I think this training of extinguishing a fire should be taught before giving a driving licence. This is the second most important training,after learning to drive or ride. Hope those poor souls rest in peace.

[Geo_Ipe]

No basics of fighting a fire are being followed here. Appreciate the intent to put the fire out, it is obvious that none of the guys there have received any kind of training.

Rule #1 - DO NOT BE SO CLOSE TO THE SOURCE OF THE FIRE - especially when there is a fuel source at large - the petrol in the tank in the case of a burning vehicle.

Rule #2 - Be aware of what kind of fire retardants are to be used for different kinds of fires.

If you look at petrol bunks, they have fire extinguishers - dry powder ones IIRC - and buckets of sand. Noone should use water to put out a petrol fire.

Originally Posted by Samarth 619

I quote from Fortis Fire website, "It is important not to use a water extinguisher on a Class B fire as water may spread the flammable material and cause the fire."


Only 3 solutions work for petrol fires:- a fire extinguisher based on 1. Foam Spray, 2. Dry/ABC powder, 3. Carbon Dioxide.

I can also see a cop in uniform watching the whole drama, hands on hips! He should have obviously received some training in putting fires out, and he should have shooed the guys away to a safe distance before the explosion happened.