Close call at work.

[glewis80SC]

We go on common vehicle fires everyday, friend had a close call the other day. Its a good thing he was fully suited up and on air, something he is religious about on vehicle/rubbish fires, he had debris embedded in his helmet and face piece. Video will be used for training to show how important our protective gear is. They believe there is magnesium in the steering column that exploded and not the airbag.

Car Explosion in Los Angeles 19th August 2011 - YouTube

[GH85Carrera]

WOW!!!

Thanks for that. I am thinking it looks a good idea to use protective gear.

[KevinP73]

I saw that on the news a while back. Gear or no gear I'm amazed he didn't even appear to flinch.

[jmaxwell]

Seemed pretty nonchalant.. I'm afraid I wouldn't be near that calm in that instance. Thanks for sharing

[Laneco]

I would have sooo needed a change of undergarments...

angela

[VINMAN]

My first thought was airbag also. Looks like the inflator lighting off.

20 yrs ago i would have walked up to a vehicle fire with just my turnouts and a booster line. Those days are long gone. Waaayy too much dangerous ****e in vehicles nowadays. Full gear/packed up for even the smallest vehicle fire.
Number of yrs ago, almost had my legs taken out by a bumper shock letting go. Knocked me right on my azz.

[VINMAN]

Heres another vid we always show in extrication training classes.

This guy got banged up pretty bad.

[krystar]

holy crap u know that guy? i saw that video couple days ago on facebook

[enzo1]

Wow! Magnesium in the steering column... really? damn

[VINMAN]

Glen, How did they determine it was magnesium? and were on the column? Ive seen mag light up plenty of times. Never seen it go off like that.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

Heres another vid we always show in extrication training classes.

This guy got banged up pretty bad.

I saw an episode of cops or something like that once where they found an airbag in a garage that had been used to break up a stolen car. They called the bomb squad in. The bomb squad remotely detonated the thing in the garage. They wired it up and laid a 75 lb blast blanket on top of it and then set it off. The blast blanket put a hole in the drywall on the ceiling of the garage when it hit. The explosive force in an airbag is impressive and nothing to play around with.

[VINMAN]

We use a Kevlar net that fits over the steering wheel to contain an undeployed airbag. One problem with airbags is even with the battery cut, they still have a capacitor that can set them off for up to 20 mins. The other huge problem is the multiple bags that cars have now.

[BReif61]

Wow... nevermind WHAT blew up, that man took a small explosion to the face and didn't skip a beat.

Like a boss

[968rz]

When air bags first came in to being we had a SOP that required us to pull the battery for at least an hour before messing with the column for that very reason.

[glewis80SC]

Vinny,
Im going off what he said and those that were there. He did not think it was the airbag, that is what I thought too those things are violent when they let go. Magnesium in the column seems a bit much to me but I wasn't there.
He is a good guy and fireman I'm glad he is ok.

[VINMAN]

Glad to see he was ok. That could have been very bad, especially if he wasnt packed up.

[Flieger]

Magnesium is getting ever more common in cars nowadays. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it in the housing/mount for the steering column.

The Magnesium was burning but what exploded was the Hydrogen gas that was liberated from the water due to the intense heat of the fire. Hydrogen will be generated from the oxidation of the Magnesium in the high temperatures in the presence of water. 1 H2O + 1 Mg -> 1 MgO + 1 H2. Steam also starts decomposing into H2 and O2 gasses at high temperatures (Fukushima nuclear power plant explosions). The white flares coming from the explosion sure look like burning Magnesium to me. Here the first reaction created the H2 and the outside air then provided the oxygen to ignite the clound when in the presense of the intense heat of the burning Magnesium.

Regardless, that fireman is amazing in his ability to take the explosion without a flinch.

[Zeke]

And the other guys, they didn't even turn around.

[chocolatelab]

hero, that the definition, amazing

they deserve 10 times whatever they make

[HardDrive]

I got a wicked paper cut last week.