Post-collision fires in road vehicles between 2002 and 2015

The loss of human lives and body injuries due to post-crash fires, either by smoke inhalation or due to burn injuries, are unfortunately not uncommon. The literature indicates that fire events related to crashes are still a significant problem. The increased combustible load in newer vehicles is an important factor to be taken into account for the fire safety, as well as their potential to release toxic fumes while burning. Trends indicate that the survivable collision energy will continue to increase, and, at the same time, the probability of post-crash fires rises with the collision energy. This means that the occupants of a vehicle may probably survive a high-energy collision but might sustain severe injuries or death due to a post-collision fire. This work reports a literature and interview study about post-crash fires including statistics on the causes and dynamics of post-crash fires in road vehicles based on the literature, crash and incident reports, as well as on interviews with medicine specialists. Results from this study indicate that fires in vehicles which originated by a collision event are a problem that remains to be solved.