In the agricultural, construction, forestry and mining industries, off-road vehicles (mobile and stationary vehicles), handle a great deal of fire hazardous, heavy mobile materials. This article will provide you information about the benefits of automatic vehicle fire suppression systems for vehicle special hazards.
What are Vehicle Fire Suppression Systems?
Vehicle Fire Suppression Systems are pre-engineered, fixed nozzle systems for commercial vehicles such as construction dump trucks, bulldozers and forestry machinery in addition to bus fleets and other forms of mass transit. Fire Suppression is required for vehicles that handle mobile materials for three important reasons:
- The vehicles are highly flammable.
- Vehicle fires are a threat to life safety.
- Vehicles destroyed by a fire are hard to replace/expensive to purchase.
The vehicles are fire hazards because they are used for demanding conditions that require long hours of operation or because they transport large groups of people.
The most common causes of off-road vehicle fires are:
- A fuel break
- A Hydraulic line break in the engine
- Electrical shorts
The vehicle problems often result in rapid/widespread fires because the vehicle fires do not provide early warning signs. For example, vehicle operators do not notice smoke or flames until it is too late to save lives and/or property.
This problem can be resolved with effective vehicle fire suppression systems. All fires need heat, fuel and oxygen to ignite so identifying fuel and heat sources in off-road vehicles is crucial to fire prevention and fire safety.
What are common fuel and heat sources in off-road vehicles?
The fuel sources are flammable liquids, flammable greases, rubber, plastic, and debris of wood chips and coal dust.
The heat sources are from the exhaust system, turbochargers, pumps and blockage in a vehicle engine.
If fuel comes in contact with any heat source, a vehicle fire will occur. An example of a very dangerous vehicle hazard would be leaking fuel.
Vehicle fire suppression systems are set in place to give vehicle operators and passengers enough time to safely evacuate vehicles as well as save the vehicle from severe fire damage/equipment down time.
An example of an effective vehicle fire suppression system is using an extended discharge dry chemical system to escape a burning vehicle.
Fireline Corporation is here to design a system layout, install and maintain your off-road vehicle fire suppression systems to detect and extinguish your commercial vehicle fires quickly and efficiently.
Our full service fire detection and extinguishing agents for off-road vehicles and the hazardous environments are easy to install and maintain to prevent total loss of expensive machinery.
Learn about Fireline’s Vehicle Suppression Systems today.
Fireline a Maryland corporation founded in 1947 by John S. Waters. Fireline remains a pioneer in the fledgling fire equipment distribution business and we have grown to encompass all facets of fire protection. We can design, install, inspect, or service any type of fire protection system. From fire alarm to fire extinguisher, we do it all.
If you have any questions about fire equipment, or other Fireline products and services, contact Fireline by calling 410.247.1422 or click here today!
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Source: http://www.simplexgrinnell.com/ENUS/Solutions/Suppression/Special%20Hazards/Pages/VehicleFireSuppressionSystems.aspx
http://www.koetterfire.com/off-road-fire-systems/