作者：罗德·卡林格（Rod Carringer）
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier with air bags deploying unexpectedly, gas filled shocks, struts, and belt pre-tensioners exploding without warning, and hundreds of pounds of smoky, cancer-causing plastics, now we have to worry about alternate fuels like hydrogen or a trunk full of batteries when we respond to a “typical” car fire. U.S. Fire Administration research indicates that nearly one out of every four fires we respond to is a vehicle fire, and one out of every eight fire deaths results from a motor vehicle fire. To bring that into perspective, there are approximately 550 fatalities directly attributed to vehicle fires, as well as 2100 civilian and 1200 firefighter injuries reported each year. The days of responding to “just another car fire”, are definitely a thing of the past.
防火协会推荐的最小初始攻击fire flows on vehicle fires is 125 gpm. Remember that this is strictly a minimum, and can be easily provided through an 1 1/2″ or 1 3/4″ preconnect. Not that it is totally uncommon to watch an engine company open a pre-plumbed deck gun on a vehicle fire, or to find one that still will pull a 1″ booster line, but traditionally, the first structural preconnect is also the line of choice for vehicle fires. If you are part of the first-due crew, consider the following “points” before you pull that first line off the apparatus.
- Take a moment and determine the make, model, and construction of the involved vehicle. This will help you identify fuels used, if passive or active passenger restraints are installed, whether shock-absorbing bumpers of gas-loaded struts are present, or if magnesium or other metals may be involved.
- 确定参与是否在发动机室，乘客区域或后备箱中，或者三个。燃料是否泄漏出需要特别注意的燃料？供水是否足以完全瓦解？
- 诸如近距离车辆或结构，高架电线或其他急救人员或观众的接近之类的曝光可能需要拉动第二线以进行额外保护。
- 始终牢记安全。即使设备的放置应将攻击人员从大火中抬高和山上，SCBA和完整的防护服是必须的。避免在车辆的前部或后部进行直接攻击，还将减少爆炸保险杠系统造成伤害的机会。即使防护剂模式对于消防员的安全是必须的，但它不能阻止以40英里 /小时的速度行驶的车辆保险杠组件。
- Even with your 125-gpm minimum fire flow, consider the use of Class A foam as an water enhancement that will allow your stream to more thoroughly soak into the smoldering insulation or foam seats, and smother burning rubber tires more quickly and effectively than water alone.
越来越多的混合动力汽车在道路上以及选择LNG，CNG或电动的市政当局和企业舰队作为干净的燃料来源，并且新的增强安全设备展示了每个新车型年份的挑战，即“仅仅另一场汽车大火比以往任何时候都要大。
