Hot weather increases the risk of car fires, stop doing these things immediately

In recent days, the rising temperatures have caused many places to experience a peak heat wave, with outdoor temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. If the car is parked outdoors, the actual temperature in the cabin is much higher, even double due to the greenhouse effect.

Heat is only a small cause of car fires.

However, no matter how hot it is, a normal car cannot spontaneously combust because the car manufacturer has tested it very carefully before mass production.

The rate of spontaneous combustion due to manufacturer error is less than 1% and is usually detected early by car manufacturers so they will announce a recall of cars at risk of fire to fix the problem.

The remaining majority of causes of car fires in hot weather mainly come from the subjectivity and carelessness of the car users.

Improper modification is the leading cause of electrical short circuits that lead to car fires.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thang - Director of Auto i-Tech service center (Hanoi) said that the common cause of car fires can come from car owners adding electronic devices that do not meet the manufacturer's standards, such as poor quality electrical wires leading to overload, increased heat and car fires.

In addition, users who carelessly maintain or take little care of their vehicles will not detect early problems such as rats biting electrical parts, fuel leaks in the engine compartment when there is an electrical short circuit or hot weather combined with engine overheating, leading to the risk of vehicle fire.

A cigarette lighter that is stuck due to long-term disuse can also cause a car fire.

Mr. Thang also added that the cigarette lighter that is available in the car seems harmless, but this part can get stuck after a long time of use, leading to a closed circuit, creating heat in the spring inside and causing the car to catch fire. Therefore, he also recommends that car owners should remove the cigarette lighter if they do not use this item.

"Especially, in extremely hot weather conditions, users should absolutely not leave flammable objects in the car such as lighters, spare batteries or electronic devices. Always have a mini fire extinguisher in the car, but users should not buy low-quality floating fire extinguishers because these types can completely have the opposite effect when exposed to high temperatures for a long time," Mr. Thang emphasized.

There was a car seat fire caused by sunlight passing through a water bottle creating a heat-focusing lens effect. Photo: Live Science

In addition, some experienced car users said that water bottles or eyeglasses can be intermediate objects causing fires when they accidentally act as a converging lens to focus the sun's rays. If the light source is strong enough, it can also lead to a high risk of fire.

Therefore, instead of being careless, users should put their glasses in the right place in the car, absolutely do not leave water bottles in places that are easily exposed to sunlight when parking outdoors, should be placed behind the front seats or on both sides of the rear doors. Finally, the best thing is to choose a shady place to park.