Luton Airport car park fire...

boogieman · October 2023

Diesel doesn’t actually burn that well though. It has to be compressed massively to ignite.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

There have definitely been other car park fires in recent years. Google throws up Liverpool 2017, Stavanger in Norway 2020, Sweden in 2021. I don’t know if any if those were EV related, either being started or subsequently fueled by EVs

euan · October 2023

Modern cars have more combustible material. Have a read of the Merseyside report of you’ve got a spare 15 minutes.

https://www.bafsa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2018/12/Merseyside-FRS-Car-Park-Report.pdf

TLDR: modern cars have plastic fuel tanks which when damaged by heat leak and cause fire runaway, drainage systems help spread the fire to other cars, lack of sprinklers to stop this spread.

roundthebend · October 2023

Brio said:

Mate messaged me to say he'd heard it was a diesel LandRover Disco that was being driven, caught fire and the driver stopped it and jumped out. So not electric or even petrol. To Be Confirmed though.

Interesting. I saw a photo posted on the ITV Facebook page as a comment to the story, and it looked like a Land Rover Discovery to me too. The commenter seemed to be making a judgement about the car which I assumed to be "oh an EV was the cause" but maybe they just don't like Land Rovers.

So, are we now placing bets on whether there were EVs nearby that caused the fire to really take off?

elstoof · October 2023

boogieman said:

Diesel doesn’t actually burn that well though. It has to be compressed massively to ignite.

Doesn’t have to be a fuel fire, brake fluid leaking on a hot exhaust will burn quite well

Reverend · October 2023

I've drawn up a list of likely suspects:

"they"
reptilian overlords
U2
Baron SIlas Greenback
Coriander
The Rothschilds
Gary Lineker
Line 6

slacker · October 2023

How many right wing papers will demand that diesel vehicles are banned and how many if it were an ev?

mudslide73 · October 2023

BBC Breakfast News were saying it was EV related (but not confirmed!) at 6.45 this morning. It looks like they've been told to pipe down until it's official. Obviously petrol burns/explodes too. As has been stated, DERV only explodes under compression.

BillDL · October 2023

elstoof said:

Doesn’t have to be a fuel fire, brake fluid leaking on a hot exhaust will burn quite well

Exactly. It used to be quite common in frontal car crashes for the brake fluid reservoir to burst and the fluid to hit the manifold and ignite fiercely. In older cars the reservoir was right there in the engine compartment on a flimsy bracket. They later moved it in behind a sill to protect it, but as engine bays became more cramped and bodywork became weaker to provide crumple zones it wouldn't really have been protected anywhere, so it is now usually just squeezed into a space as far away from the manifold as is possible.

Uncompressed diesel fuel can be ignited, but it does take a fairly sustained flame to raise its temerature above the flash point, and it burns much more slowly than petrol. A fiercely burning car close to a diesel car definitely can ignite the fuel in its tank.

breakstuff · October 2023

Reverend said:

I've drawn up a list of likely suspects:

"they"
reptilian overlords
U2
Baron SIlas Greenback
Coriander
The Rothschilds
Gary Lineker
Line 6

You forgot Chappers.

Reverend · October 2023

breakstuff said:

Reverend said:

I've drawn up a list of likely suspects:

"they"
reptilian overlords
U2
Baron SIlas Greenback
Coriander
The Rothschilds
Gary Lineker
Line 6

You forgot Chappers.

don't be silly.

Andertons have very clear rules on demarcation.
Chappers - earth
Dannish Pete - wind
Rabea - Fire
The captain - water

Greatape · October 2023

Reverend said:

roundthebend said:

This article seems fairly balanced and not Pro- or Con- EV.

https://www.autoweek.com/news/a38225037/how-much-you-should-worry-about-ev-fires/

25/1000 EVs caused fires
vs
1500/1000 for petrol cars

The two main triggers for EV fires are:
1. damaged battery after a crash
2. fault during charging

A crash in a car park seems unlikely. And I don't believe this fire started where there are EV charge points so that's also unlikely.

Let's wait for the facts to come out.

absolutely not.

Jeeves, bring me my pitchfork

'One moment, sir - just bringing your favourite mob to the boil for you'

Offset · October 2023

BillDL said:

Billy Joel has denied responsibility on behalf of more than just himself, as have Robby Krieger and Jim Morrison's surviving relatives, but perhaps it is a copycat crime:

If there has been any suspicion of sex, The Kings of Leon must surely be prime suspects.
If the fire was circular, there may have been some Cash involved.

You're, um, on fire today Bill...

axisus · October 2023

thecolourbox said:

axisus said:

I live in Luton, traffic chaos this morning!

I've only been to Luton twice and both times this was the case, so seems par for the course to be fair

Luton is Sh*te to drive around, especially the town centre which is a disaster these days. You know you've gone wrong when you put a roundabout in then stick traffic lights all around it.

Gassage · October 2023

(1) The Secret Firefighter UK (@TheSecretFF999) / X (twitter.com)

Some footage here

vasselmeyer · October 2023

DuploLicks said:

This is the first time I can remember a ‘car park fire’. I’m sure cars have caught fire in multi-stories before but it hasn’t resulted in the whole place burning up!

Even if it wasn’t an EV that started it, when an EV does go up they take everything with it. I’ll definitely be thinking about whether I need to park in a multi-storey car park in future

There was a similar event in Liverpool in 2018 where over 1000 vehicles were destroyed:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-46290095

The whole place had to be demolished as the heat (up to 1000C) damaged the reinforced concrete.

SPECTRUM001 · October 2023

Reverend said:

I've drawn up a list of likely suspects:

"they"
reptilian overlords
U2
Baron SIlas Greenback
Coriander
The Rothschilds
Gary Lineker
Line 6

Thanks for this. I am so fed up with hearing about "them" and "they".

Who (FFS !!) ???!!!!

I concluded that using "them" and "they" reduces the chance of a counter response. Effective to randomise generalised "they're out to get us" policy...

I like a good conspiracy, however do have this argument with Mrs001 on a regular basis. Naturally, she usually wins the argument.

euan · October 2023

Gassage said:

(1) The Secret Firefighter UK (@TheSecretFF999) / X (twitter.com)

Some footage here

Glad to have it confirmed that it was a parked and charging BEV

Gassage · October 2023

euan said:

Gassage said:

(1) The Secret Firefighter UK (@TheSecretFF999) / X (twitter.com)

Some footage here

Glad to have it confirmed that it was a parked and charging BEV

How do you know it's EV?

elstoof · October 2023

I think it’s sarcasm

sev112 · October 2023

Didn't the BBC report say it was a diesel car that first ignited

roundthebend · October 2023

From that Secret Firefighter Twittter page:

Update from
@ BedsFire
CFO Andy Hopkinson: Early signs show no sign of anything suspicious, cause is believed to be accidental, and believed to be a diesel vehicle.

Adey · October 2023

I'm certainly not expert on EVs, but there are a lot about these days and many hybrid ones too, so I would imagine a substantial proportion in the car park. You could easily expect to find half a dozen or so all in adjacent parking spaces.

If a fire had spread from an ICE vehicle to a few adjacent EVs, is that likely to lead to a runaway fire developing?

victorludorum · October 2023

Adey said:

I'm certainly not expert on EVs, but there are a lot about these days and many hybrid ones too, so I would imagine a substantial proportion in the car park. You could easily expect to find half a dozen or so all in adjacent parking spaces.

If a fire had spread from an ICE vehicle to a few adjacent EVs, is that likely to lead to a runaway fire developing?

A fireman on Sky earlier said that plenty of EVs were involved, but that report has disappeared now as far as I can see.

euan · October 2023

euan said:

Modern cars have more combustible material. Have a read of the Merseyside report of you’ve got a spare 15 minutes.

https://www.bafsa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2018/12/Merseyside-FRS-Car-Park-Report.pdf

TLDR: modern cars have plastic fuel tanks which when damaged by heat leak and cause fire runaway, drainage systems help spread the fire to other cars, lack of sprinklers to stop this spread.

Honestly just read some of this report. The result would have been the same without the presence of and PHEV/BEV vehicles.

victorludorum · October 2023

vasselmeyer said:

DuploLicks said:

This is the first time I can remember a ‘car park fire’. I’m sure cars have caught fire in multi-stories before but it hasn’t resulted in the whole place burning up!

Even if it wasn’t an EV that started it, when an EV does go up they take everything with it. I’ll definitely be thinking about whether I need to park in a multi-storey car park in future

There was a similar event in Liverpool in 2018 where over 1000 vehicles were destroyed:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-46290095

The whole place had to be demolished as the heat (up to 1000C) damaged the reinforced concrete.

Was the cause of this fire ever known?

Sporky · October 2023

siremoon said:

The evangelists will trot out the usual line

Poisoning the well again. Either your argument is compelling without the logical fallacy or it isn't.

The real cause of the fire was anti-EV gammons spontaneously combusting with near-orgasmic excitement at the prospect of shouting yet more hysterical bullshit.

Adey · October 2023

I don't think it is necessarily that but I don't see the relavence with cooked ham products.

TfL and train operators have banned them being taken onto their services (yes, I know that they don't let you take petrol on the train either), but there is clearly a significant risk with these batteries, especially as they are very hard to put out.

elstoof · October 2023

TfL have banned people from taking electric cars on their services? This is huge

Sporky · October 2023

Adey said:

there is clearly a significant risk with these batteries

If that's the case you'll be able to quantify it.

If you can't, it's speculation.

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Luton Airport car park fire...

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