• 1 out of 5 fires involves motor vehicles.
• 1 out of 8 fire deaths results from motor vehicle fires.
• 600 people are killed and 1,200 firefighters are injured a year from motor vehicle fires.

Fire can cause fatal or debilitating burn injuries. A vehicle fire can generate heat upwards of 1,500 degrees F. Keep in mind that water boils at 212 degrees F., and that most foods are cooked at temperatures of less than 500 degrees F. Flames from burning vehicles can often shoot out distances of 10 feet or more.

Parts of the vehicle can burst because of heat, shooting debris great distances. Bumper and hatchback door struts, two-piece tire rims, magnesium wheels, drive shafts, grease seals, axle, and engine parts, all can become lethal shrapnel. Although relatively rare, gas tanks of motor vehicles can rupture and spray flammable fuel, posing a clear potential for serious injury. In even more extraordinary instances, gas tanks have been known to explode. Hazardous materials, such as battery acid, can cause injury even without burning.

Vehicle fires are so dangerous that firefighters wear full protective fire resistant equipment and self-contained breathing apparatus to keep themselves safe. They have the ability to quickly put out vehicle fires with large amounts of water or other extinguishing agents.

Read examples of burn injuries and law suits resulting from motor vehicle related fires and explosions:

Ford Fuel Fires

Although fires occur in only about three out of every one thousand automobile collisions, each year thousands of people sustain disfiguring or fatal burn injuries in post-collision fires. Many of these can be attributed to dangerous and defective fuel system designs, which are subject to compromise or failure in the event of a collision. Safer fuel systems have been economically available for more than 30 years, but as a result of efforts by Ford Motor Company and other manufacturers to avoid implementing alternative designs, there are still tens of thousands of vehicles on the nation's highways with defective and hazardous fuel systems.

Helicopter Fire & Crash

The plaintiff in this case was the family of a helicopter pilot who died in a crash. The helicopter had been used for crop dusting and had just returned from the application of sulfur. The next application was potassium permanganate. Evidently, all of the sulfur was not removed from the hopper before the potassium permanganate was loaded. Since sulfur is a combustible material and potassium permanganate is an oxidizer, there was a fire on-board within ten minutes after the helicopter took off. The pilot attempted to land but hit electric power lines which resulted in a crash and fire.