Drive carefully with the 'fire lady' lurking on the straw drying road

Many car fires when passing through straw drying roads

Recently, there have been many cases of cars catching fire while driving through straw drying roads. Typically, on the afternoon of May 24, in Anh Son town, Anh Son district, Nghe An province, a car with license plate 37A.048xx driven by a man residing in Dien Chau district (Nghe An) suddenly caught fire.

When the fire was discovered, the driver and local people quickly put out the fire, but the rear of the car was still partially burned. The cause of the fire may have been due to straw getting stuck under the car while moving.

Previously, on May 21, a 4-seat car suddenly caught fire while passing through Provincial Road 538, in Quynh Tam Commune, Quynh Luu District (Nghe An). The cause of the incident was also due to straw getting caught in the car.

It is worth mentioning that the problem of cars catching fire while driving through straw drying roads is no longer a rare thing. Every harvest season, many similar car fires are recorded in localities.

Not only in the hot season, at the end of 2022, the authorities of Duong Thanh commune, Phu Binh district, Thai Nguyen province also recorded a car fire. Specifically, a car was traveling on the road in Nui 2 hamlet, Duong Thanh commune, Phu Binh district, Thai Nguyen province, the driver discovered that the front of the car had an accident so he got out to check. Immediately after that, the fire broke out and burned fiercely. Realizing the danger, the two people in the car quickly and promptly escaped.

After the fire was brought under control, the front of the car was completely burned. It is known that the road where the incident happened was in the middle of a field, with a lot of straw covering the road surface.

Car caught fire while driving through a road where straw was being dried. Photo: Nguyen Hoan

What to do when crossing the road of straw drying?

Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Dao Quoc Huong - owner of SmartCar Service workshop - analyzed that dry straw is inherently flammable and has a very high risk of fire. Therefore, when it comes into contact with high temperature parts under the car, it can cause a fire.

Meanwhile, when a car is running at high intensity, the exhaust pipe can generate a large amount of heat. For a new car, a good exhaust pipe has a low risk of causing a car fire.

However, for old cars, the exhaust pipe works poorly, even gets clogged and damaged. When operating at high frequency on hot days, it can generate a lot of heat (many types of exhaust pipes glow red like coal). When these exhaust pipes come into contact with flammable objects such as dry straw, dry rags, and plastic bags, it can cause a fire.

Not only in hot season but at any time of year when using the vehicle, to ensure safety, drivers should minimize driving on road surfaces containing flammable materials such as straw.

Drivers need to pay attention to properly maintaining their vehicles to keep the exhaust pipe in the best condition, avoiding damage that could potentially lead to fire or explosion.

In case of having to go through a road where straw is dried, the driver should turn off the air conditioner and roll down the windows. The reason for rolling down the windows is because there have been many cases where the driver did not hear the voice of passersby reporting smoke coming from the car, thus missing the "golden" time to prevent and fight the fire.

After passing through a road where straw is dried, the driver should stop the car to check and remove the straw rolled under the car and near the exhaust pipe.

Not only cars, even motorbikes passing through areas with straw drying on the road need to be very careful, because hot motorbike exhaust pipes getting caught in straw can also cause a fire.