IN CASE OF FLAMES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIII, Issue 3075, 5 November 1929, Page 2

IN CASE OF FLAMES.

KEEP ENGINE RUNNING. As mast motorists know, a backfire is not the noisy discharge from the exhaust pipe, a sound quite familiar about our streets, while descending hills, but a fire back from the ignition chamber into the carburettor. The explosion through the exhaust system is not a serious matter from the point of view of a fire, though such is not a serious matter from the point of view of a fire, though such is not beyond the bounds of possibility, but a true backfire is quite a serious menace and a frequent source of loss of cars through e'nvelopment in flames. Should the fuel in the carburettor become ignited, threatening the destruction of the vehicle, the thing to do is to keep the engine running, so that the flames are sucked into the engine and do not have much chance to spread. Then, when the car has been brought to rest, raise the bonnet—still with the engine running at a fairly fast pace—turn off the petrol of the vacuum tank or main tank, as the case may be, and the fire may burn itself out when the petrol is exhausted.

There is, however, the danger of the flames setting fire to the rubber insulation of the ignition wires and any oil which happens to be about the cylinder block, so that one's precautions should not rest here. If the driver is one those wise men who habitually carry an efficient fire extinguisher it should be put into service straight away; or else throw sand or earth on the burning parts or otherwise smother the flames. Never under any circumstances use water. Petrol floats on water and so far from being estingaished the flames will only be carried to other parts of the car. Some motorists hesitate to use sand, as as they are frightened of it getting into some delicate part of the car's mechanism; but sand can always be cleaned out afterwards, and in any case it is far better to injure one small part than to have the whole car consumed.

The best insurance against fires caused by blowbacks into the carburettor, however, is a car in perfect adjustment. The engine should never be neglected but should be regularly inspected.