A tanker truck carrying 8,000 gallons of ethanol caused this fire after it overturned near Baltimore.(Photo courtesy of International
Association of Fire Chiefs)
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Repairers are being urged to prepare themselves for a heightened risk of engine fires stoked by motorists filling up with
ethanol-laced gasoline when their vehicle is not properly outfitted to safely burn this type of fuel.
An added hazard associated with ethanol's rising popularity as an environmentally correct alternative stems from a molecular
makeup that differs from traditional gas. The grain-based additive is water-soluble while petroleum is not — oil and water
don't mix — and many local fire departments still do not stock the special type of foam needed to extinguish an ethanol blaze.
Firefighting foam is tested on an ethanol fire. (Photo courtesy of David White)
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Just as gas and ethanol don't behave the same when set afire, E-85 and other ethanol blends can seriously damage a car's key
engine components unless the vehicle is specifically designed to be ethanol-friendly. Yet people with older, non-ethanol vehicles
are nonetheless pulling up to E-85 pumps in an ill-advised attempt to abate airborne fuel pollutants.
While ecologically concerned drivers may feel they are doing the right thing, in reality this strategy is fraught with potential
dangers — especially when these now-faulty engines are fired-up within the confines of a repair facility filled with other
vehicles. "You're going to have a lot of car fires in shops because of this," warns firefighting consultant Bob Lorenz, who teaches
the topic at the College of DuPage in Illinois.
"Vehicles that are not equipped for E-85 do not have the proper o-rings and gaskets to handle the increased alcohol content
of the fuel," explains Todd Hoffman, executive director of Scene of the Accident Inc. and ABRN's 2006 Leadership Award honoree.
"This causes swelling of the o-rings and deterioration of the gaskets, which leads to fuel and oil leaks. It also causes overheating
of the catalytic converter."
Collision shop fire safety advice
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"It will eat the hoses and o-rings up and it will leak all over the place," concurs consultant David White, publisher of Industrial
Fire World magazine. Firefighting experts are loudly sounding the alarm about ethanol, particularly in regard to public safety
risks posed by overturned E-85 tankers and the foam issue; they are equally concerned over lesser blends now used in more
than half of the U.S. automotive fleet.
"Actually, we are all using gasohol," says Hoffman. "All gas today has between 10 percent and 15 percent ethanol in it."
The ethanol problem is especially acute in Corn Belt states where E-85 is more readily available to consumers eager to aid
the environment. First responders expect the wrong-fuel-in-the-wrong-vehicle situation to become more widespread as E-85 gains
popularity.
A Kansas firefighter who has taken several of Hoffman's crash-site response training seminars filed these disturbing observations:
"I sat across from a station here in Topeka that was selling E-85 and watched people; you would not believe the older cars
that are filling up with it. I think we are going to start to see some of these older cars having fires."
"The public is totally unaware of the problems that will be created when they use E-85 in a vehicle that is not designed to
run it," Hoffman says.
Posted 2008-07-22 13:18:00.0
