All,
The following link is something I’ve posted in the past as a FYI regarding the dangers of fire.
http://www.motorsportretro.com/2013/02/f1-fire/
As you may or may not know, One of our TX American Iron competetitors, Jim Strader, was involved in a fire during Saturday morning qualifying at COTA this past weekend (27-May-17).
https://youtu.be/nmo7-B4Z8g4
Jim’s car had an oil cooler line fitting fail (Aeroquip push-lock) which oiled down the complete underside of the car. The fire ignited on the exhaust and the heat from the undercar air feeding the fire was enough to breach the FuelSafe FIA FT-3 rated fuel cell.
Thankfully the fire systems, yes, two of them, were activated to suppress the fire both in and under the car before the car came to a stop (driver’s left) on the uphill front straight leading into turn 1.
Unfortunately, even with the car in 4th gear, the grade was extensive enough for the car to start rolling down/across the track as Jim was egressing the car. He was hung up in the door and was drug 70 feet across the track before finally falling free in the middle of the track as his car continued to roll off course (driver’s right). This all happened in less than 10 seconds…
The COTA safety personnel was thankfully positioned almost directly across the track from where Jim originally stopped the car and they were rolling before race control could even radio for their assistance. Their safety vehicle flanked both Jim and his car to provide a barrier to the other racers while Jim was working himself free of the car.
When you watch the video, look at the intensity of the flames prior to Jim hitting the fire suppression system… It’s amazing how easily the fire vaporizes CCR legal “fire tape” which were covering only a few holes in the tub. Even the riveted aluminum patches showed signs of fire intrusion.
Jim’s personal safety gear held up very well, but the right side of his suit was singed, cool suit lines melted where it went into his suit, right glove was singed.
So, a few questions you need to ask yourself..
1. Can you egress your car quickly enough without being hung on any part of the car in an emergency situation?
2. When was the last time you practiced an emergency egress?
3. Do you race with the bare minimum CCR safety equipment? Should you add a head sock and fire retardant underwear to your already legal 3 layer suit? Are your gloves multi-layer or just the CCR minimum?
4. Do you have a CCR minimum 2.5lb hand-held fire extinguisher, or a fire suppression system? (Just a note, if you think you could do ANY good with a hand-held extinguisher in this type of a situation, then you are kidding yourself)
5. Do you have any open holes in the firewall or tub of your racecar? Are the holes covered with aluminum foil tape, aluminum patch panels ???
A good suggestion that has been made is to use a fire retardant adhesive to seal the riveted sheet metal patch panels.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rutland-1...-64C/202218155
Here are a few pics of the damage to Jim's car.
**Ballast holes that were covered with aluminum foil tape. The tape vaporized**
**Holes sealed with dynamat type material on both sides (under car and inside car) did not breach)**
**Holes with riveted aluminum panel still had fire breach from underneath. Suggestion would be to seal the patch with a fire resistant “chimney” sealer**
**Small pin holes with aluminum foil tape vaporized and shot flames into the cockpit**
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