I heard of some firefighters up in Mass. that tried this once, despite the owner pleading with them not to use water. "Son, we're professionals". Several hours and five additional fire engines later, they had put out all the fires, which had burned over an acre.
@MrApophis I have seen burning magnesium a lot but have never seen it burn red, always bright white. If you have enough molten and it is not burning, it will glow red the same as any other molten metal. Burning magnesium under water will quickly dissipate heat. Once it is no longer molten, it will not burn. This is how we combat mag fires at work, cover them with a special flux agent the covers them to remove oxygen and let cool. If it stays molten, it will burn, if it burns, it stays molten.
@VFVFCo68...What you see there is the nozzleman and his back-up. The back up firefighter is opening the vehicle's doors and helping the nozzleman access the passenger compartment.
this exact thing happened to me again this past thursday. I was backing up a new guy on the nozzle and it scared the crap outta him it was pretty funny. It deffinitly wakes you up and reminds you to think safety
@FerFel5 The first wide usage of magnesium in cars started in 1936 when the first Volkswagen Beetles started into production. It declined for a bit but as oil prices rise, so does the amount of magnesium in cars. It has been steadily increasing for the last decade and is projected to continue to play an important part in reducing fuel consumption.
@MsAutobodyman Actually they use a lot of magnesium on cars these days. The weight savings are huge and they can make more complex structures. Quite a few cars have magnesium support structure under the dash to hold the dash and airbags. The Dodge Viper even uses it for the firewall between the engine compartment and the cabin area. By the time that magnesium heats up to the point of combustion, the temperature would be so great that passenger survival has been ruled out.
@Skimer54... "The cost savings by using water on a car fire far outweighs the price of foam" exactly what i said. In Layman's terms, water is free. foam is not.
@kennymagnum Class A Foam is $13.00 a gallon and our FD had a well involved vehicle fire and we used 150 gallons of water and a half gallon of foam doing extinguishment and overhaul so some departments still don't believe in using foam we have proportioning systems on two of our rigs and a portable foam unit on a third rig we use foam all the time, quicker knockdown, less overhaul and no chance of rekindle. So who nows why they didn't use it.
@mfd806 foam wouldn't have helped them. magnesium reacts with water and foam is 85-90% water. best way to fight a magnesium fire is a class d extinguisher or by putting sand or dirt on it to cut off its oxygen supply.
@mfd806 foam wouldn't have helped them. magnesium reacts with water and foam is 85-90% water. best way to fight a magnesium fire is a class d extinguisher or by putting sand or dirt on it to cut off its oxygen supply.
many car manufactures use magnesium for its lightweighted and extremely stiff. generally used for dash supports, manuel transmission cases, and seat supports. and that flame when it reacts with water will cause a svere burn through the gear. you must be prepared for a reaction and be ready to get out of its way. using dirt isn't very effective. purple k extiguishers work well, but copious amounts of water work well too.
hard? yes, not much hard... :P but also not much harm. if it had a solid block, that'd be one that could burn it's self out as far as I was concerned. and it'd make an absolutely awesome video if it went up.
unless it's a Ferrari, in which case the entire block is solid magnesium. just do what they did with chernobyl, knock a mix up and burry it. if it works for nuclear reactions, got to work on pretty much everything else. appreciate what you're doing that... but I don't think a magnesium fire is something that is going to do you much hard even with the SCBA off, particularly outdoors. the plastic is another thing. magneisum is routinely burnt in labs, out of the fume hood
@DTMRM8 your right in that the fire is not classified as a "magnesium fire", its obviously a "car fire" but most engine blocks these days are being made out of magnesium. So it can be expected (just like any other fire that burns multiple types of materials) that you will encounter burning magnesium in car fires. It does have a large reaction with water, and the case of only a small amount burning, its ok to just use tonnes of water. But anything bigger needs dry powder (not dry chem)
@remt007 Yep, that was my point. For a car fire, the amount of Magnesium is minimal so water is fine, just let it react (burn) off. My fire company does not even have dry powder extinguishers.
The white "stuff" (excuse my previous language) is the result of the magnesium burning and oxidizing causing a chemical reaction creating magnesium oxide, which is that white powder.
Alot of what we use is not the elemental form of things though, considering sodium and chlorine both would kill us, but when you combine them, it's salt, which we need.
now days it is realy hard to find a true mag rim. but alot of parts are still made of magnesium like valve covers cam covers some trans houseings and tanfercases.Vw use to make whole blocks out of the stuff.
Forget the magnesium, put out the dripping burning fuel on the rear passenger side! You cant put out a magnesium fire with water, you need a dry chemical or let it burn out and control the scene, spraying water only makes it worse. We were taught that in basic fire training.
hey, thanks for pointing that out. I was wondering WHY are there a few of these vids of vehicles on fire with Mg in them....I mean, how many vehicles could possibly be carrying Mg! But if there is a part that is actually made of it, that makes more sense.
They are putting magnesium in cars because its a lighter material to conform to the standards set by the government to make the cars get more fuel economy.
I dont know if u are in the FF field but like I said below this is nothing to joke around with. If the fire reaction is that bad you dont continue to throw water on a class D fire (or alkaline substance)it just fuels it. Usually the FFs dont learn until they get have 1 or a couple of their personel get burned. They change their SOGs usually after something happens.
CAFS or a dry extinguishing agent. Ive had several of these and one of our guys got burned right through the PPE. This is nothing to joke around with and in our depts opinion its stupid to put guys in danger if its flaring up that bad. We will knock the fire out around the area that flared and let it burn out before we have guys get burned and blinded.
I heard of some firefighters up in Mass. that tried this once, despite the owner pleading with them not to use water. "Son, we're professionals". Several hours and five additional fire engines later, they had put out all the fires, which had burned over an acre.
Thoralmir 8 months ago
Saw that fire and had to add for all you firefighters out there...beware of Jeep rear tire carriers, they are mag as well.
Premair 9 months ago
i fought a fire in nothing but my Y fronts once.... i lost but wow what a pair of y zees
pcfaulkner 11 months ago
what would be made of magnesium the engine block or the alloy wheels
1ukjunglednbraver 11 months ago
@1ukjunglednbraver In this particular vehicle it was the transmission housing
bedfordfd 11 months ago
Is this Bedford, Ohio?
TelcoPhil 1 year ago
@TelcoPhil bedford va
bedfordfd 11 months ago
I guess this is why they don't let you stand 10 feet away from a fire, huh?
twizz420 1 year ago
Can't magnesium burn red? I think I saw it before. And it burns for a long time underwater in certain conditions, right?
MrApophis 1 year ago
@MrApophis I have seen burning magnesium a lot but have never seen it burn red, always bright white. If you have enough molten and it is not burning, it will glow red the same as any other molten metal. Burning magnesium under water will quickly dissipate heat. Once it is no longer molten, it will not burn. This is how we combat mag fires at work, cover them with a special flux agent the covers them to remove oxygen and let cool. If it stays molten, it will burn, if it burns, it stays molten.
Premair 1 year ago
Why is there only 1 man on the line? In my department we put a minimum of 2 ppl in the line, a nozzleman and a backup.
VFVFCo68 1 year ago
@VFVFCo68...What you see there is the nozzleman and his back-up. The back up firefighter is opening the vehicle's doors and helping the nozzleman access the passenger compartment.
bedfordfd 1 year ago
@bedfordfd yea I commented too early in the video when I didnt see the backup guy
VFVFCo68 1 year ago
burn baby burn!!!
lagunabad 1 year ago
this exact thing happened to me again this past thursday. I was backing up a new guy on the nozzle and it scared the crap outta him it was pretty funny. It deffinitly wakes you up and reminds you to think safety
Jahr30 1 year ago
Since when they are using magnesium in cars? 80's, late 70's???
FerFel5 1 year ago
@FerFel5 The first wide usage of magnesium in cars started in 1936 when the first Volkswagen Beetles started into production. It declined for a bit but as oil prices rise, so does the amount of magnesium in cars. It has been steadily increasing for the last decade and is projected to continue to play an important part in reducing fuel consumption.
Premair 1 year ago
@MsAutobodyman Actually they use a lot of magnesium on cars these days. The weight savings are huge and they can make more complex structures. Quite a few cars have magnesium support structure under the dash to hold the dash and airbags. The Dodge Viper even uses it for the firewall between the engine compartment and the cabin area. By the time that magnesium heats up to the point of combustion, the temperature would be so great that passenger survival has been ruled out.
Premair 1 year ago
why arent they using foam???
kennymagnum 1 year ago
@kennymagnum, The cost savings by using water on a car fire far outweighs the price of foam
bedfordfd 1 year ago
@bedfordfd Wrong. Foam is extremely expensive. up here in the North it is anyways.
Skimer54 1 year ago
@Skimer54... "The cost savings by using water on a car fire far outweighs the price of foam" exactly what i said. In Layman's terms, water is free. foam is not.
bedfordfd 1 year ago 3
@bedfordfd The price of foam is less than a man's life...
snavarro228 1 year ago
@kennymagnum Class A Foam is $13.00 a gallon and our FD had a well involved vehicle fire and we used 150 gallons of water and a half gallon of foam doing extinguishment and overhaul so some departments still don't believe in using foam we have proportioning systems on two of our rigs and a portable foam unit on a third rig we use foam all the time, quicker knockdown, less overhaul and no chance of rekindle. So who nows why they didn't use it.
mfd806 1 year ago
@mfd806 foam wouldn't have helped them. magnesium reacts with water and foam is 85-90% water. best way to fight a magnesium fire is a class d extinguisher or by putting sand or dirt on it to cut off its oxygen supply.
bjstoudt 9 months ago
@mfd806 foam wouldn't have helped them. magnesium reacts with water and foam is 85-90% water. best way to fight a magnesium fire is a class d extinguisher or by putting sand or dirt on it to cut off its oxygen supply.
bjstoudt 9 months ago
many car manufactures use magnesium for its lightweighted and extremely stiff. generally used for dash supports, manuel transmission cases, and seat supports. and that flame when it reacts with water will cause a svere burn through the gear. you must be prepared for a reaction and be ready to get out of its way. using dirt isn't very effective. purple k extiguishers work well, but copious amounts of water work well too.
bsfd510 1 year ago
hard? yes, not much hard... :P but also not much harm. if it had a solid block, that'd be one that could burn it's self out as far as I was concerned. and it'd make an absolutely awesome video if it went up.
lexichronicle2 1 year ago
unless it's a Ferrari, in which case the entire block is solid magnesium. just do what they did with chernobyl, knock a mix up and burry it. if it works for nuclear reactions, got to work on pretty much everything else. appreciate what you're doing that... but I don't think a magnesium fire is something that is going to do you much hard even with the SCBA off, particularly outdoors. the plastic is another thing. magneisum is routinely burnt in labs, out of the fume hood
lexichronicle2 1 year ago
only in a jeep lol
outdoorsman413 1 year ago
NICE!....
ClimberGirl1stRM 2 years ago
wow that one guy flaking hose does not have the propper ppe on
qmjur 2 years ago
C.A.F.S is the way forword BE safe .......
truck501 2 years ago
the nozzleman didnt even have his waist strap for his SCBA buclked. bad bad bad
808514 2 years ago
wow obviously they shouldnt be fireman if they are putting water on a magnesium fire
jason123425 2 years ago
all cars have that iv had thaqt happen a ton of times
amblefire 2 years ago
its not a water
EXiS091 2 years ago
It's not a magnesium fire. Some cars have a small amount of magnesium in them. You have no choice but to use water.
DTMRM8 2 years ago
@DTMRM8 your right in that the fire is not classified as a "magnesium fire", its obviously a "car fire" but most engine blocks these days are being made out of magnesium. So it can be expected (just like any other fire that burns multiple types of materials) that you will encounter burning magnesium in car fires. It does have a large reaction with water, and the case of only a small amount burning, its ok to just use tonnes of water. But anything bigger needs dry powder (not dry chem)
remt007 1 year ago
@remt007 Yep, that was my point. For a car fire, the amount of Magnesium is minimal so water is fine, just let it react (burn) off. My fire company does not even have dry powder extinguishers.
DTMRM8 1 year ago
Hmmm, in my opinion let that shit burn...
PersonGuyDude1212 2 years ago 2
this ladies and gentlemen is why we wear SCBA while attacking vehicle fires. Those of you who do not.. this should be a wake up call.
Kopihucky 2 years ago 20
Amen to that.
AndyHMN 2 years ago
@Kopihucky Well said.
squalie82 10 months ago
@Kopihucky fully agreed
judah1295 7 months ago
Yeah this happened to me and my department with a Cadillac CTS. Took 3 days to get that white shit off our gear.
tornadoguy2006 2 years ago
White stuff. Do you mean ash?
DeltaPhi79 2 years ago
The white "stuff" (excuse my previous language) is the result of the magnesium burning and oxidizing causing a chemical reaction creating magnesium oxide, which is that white powder.
tornadoguy2006 2 years ago
Hard to believe that our human bodies need magnesium, even though the human body is 90% water.
author 2 years ago
Alot of what we use is not the elemental form of things though, considering sodium and chlorine both would kill us, but when you combine them, it's salt, which we need.
whoarentyou 2 years ago 3
now days it is realy hard to find a true mag rim. but alot of parts are still made of magnesium like valve covers cam covers some trans houseings and tanfercases.Vw use to make whole blocks out of the stuff.
dagger197 2 years ago
Just some extra information:
A lot of after-market rims are made of magnesium, and they look just like their aluminum counterparts
AreYouThatGuy 3 years ago
Forget the magnesium, put out the dripping burning fuel on the rear passenger side! You cant put out a magnesium fire with water, you need a dry chemical or let it burn out and control the scene, spraying water only makes it worse. We were taught that in basic fire training.
animallover017 3 years ago
Looks more like dripping plastic than dripping fuel.
TheoneGodfather 3 years ago 11
thats plastic from the light dumbshit
elliotmotocross 3 years ago 3
actually if you put enough water on it, it will eventually go and burn itself out.
gkissner1685 2 years ago
yeh after the redox reaction thats going to make it hotter and spread fire faster
1ukjunglednbraver 2 years ago
anything will eventually burn itself out
swingstar1980 2 years ago
Sorry I did not see this sooner but check out the mag fire under "FEM-12 SC". You do not have to worry about flare ups or hydrogen explosions.
william29tli 3 years ago
the valve covers on 3.7l and 4.7l Chrysler engines are magnesium. That was a HOT fire !
ProfessorIgor 4 years ago
hey, thanks for pointing that out. I was wondering WHY are there a few of these vids of vehicles on fire with Mg in them....I mean, how many vehicles could possibly be carrying Mg! But if there is a part that is actually made of it, that makes more sense.
purity26 4 years ago
actually, there are a lot of them now... most Chryslers, Mercedes, may GM's now... it's all about the weight.
ProfessorIgor 4 years ago
BMW makes their Z3 engine blocks from magnesium because it is light and the aluminum parts can be corroded from liquid coolants.
somervillefire 3 years ago
So what is the benefit (which must outweigh the hazards)of having these valve covers made of Mg instead of....well whatever else they can be made of?
purity26 4 years ago
They are putting magnesium in cars because its a lighter material to conform to the standards set by the government to make the cars get more fuel economy.
firemanstud1981 4 years ago
I dont know if u are in the FF field but like I said below this is nothing to joke around with. If the fire reaction is that bad you dont continue to throw water on a class D fire (or alkaline substance)it just fuels it. Usually the FFs dont learn until they get have 1 or a couple of their personel get burned. They change their SOGs usually after something happens.
firemanstud1981 4 years ago
Brad, You just did get the camera still in time. Good Job!!!
AsstChief22 4 years ago
need some CAFS lol ...we had a similar experience that i got on film...if you go to my page it should be the one titled 'vehicle fire'
mskristen 4 years ago
CAFS or a dry extinguishing agent. Ive had several of these and one of our guys got burned right through the PPE. This is nothing to joke around with and in our depts opinion its stupid to put guys in danger if its flaring up that bad. We will knock the fire out around the area that flared and let it burn out before we have guys get burned and blinded.
firemanstud1981 4 years ago
I hold my breath everytime I watch this....GO 115 ~~~
jamey2276 4 years ago
thats so sad. i love libertyss
musicislove5246 4 years ago