Why do fires start in the cars as they are being refuelled?

Question

Why do fires start in the cars as they are being refuelled?

Answer 1

Where they fuel the car is very close to the exhaust> http://lh3.ggpht.com/_7MjgOB2ty1Q/SD51Vn... The exhaust pipe is just lower left of where it says Renault. Sometimes you'll see a crew member use a temporary splash sheld on the end of a pole.

Answer 2

There's no need for fuel to ignite inside a fuel tank of a car or a fuel rig.

It's the transfer from one to another that poses a problem.

There's a chance that it can come to contact with hot spots or static electricity.

In the case of formula one this transfer happens in an urgency and at very high speed.

So some fuel can spill and ignite.

Answer 3

They shouldn't.

It's caused by fuel splashing onto the very, very hot engine.

The refueling hoses are designed so that this should not happen but last weekend it did

Answer 4

They often start beacuse of static electricity produced by a cell phone, or by rubbing between you and your seat. You should never talk on a cell phone while filling up your car, and you should always touch your car before touching the nozzle. This releases all of the static electricity.

Answer 5

Yes, they are fairly rare but 4 in 1 gp is unheard of.

It is thought that the excess heat may of allowed a dribble of fuel to stay in the nozzle when released from the car, only a drop or 2 is needed to ignie a fire, the fires are often more of a visual shock than a problem, as most of the time they just burn on the litte drop of fuel then go out, as in Nakajimas case, when he set off, the cool air put the fire out.