Due to the heat and the holidays with road trips, it is very common to see cars catching fire.
According to Transport Canada, nearly 10,000 car fires occur every year across the country for all kinds of reasons, including arson, improper maintenance or repair, collisions and defects.
On average, only 93 safety-related vehicle fires are reported each year, the federal agency said in an email to Global News.
According to Edmonton fire investigator Keith Fowler, traffic accidents are the number one cause of vehicle fires. Manufacturing defects and poor repair are the second and third most frequent causes.
“In the summer, many of them are caused by overloading the vehicles, which overheats the transmission,” he explained in an interview with Global News. The latter added that there is a greater risk of fire if a rupture occurs when the heat is high.
Winter also brings risks, such as accidents caused by slippery roads, says Rob De Bruse, national director of consumer and industry relations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, adding that summer heat poses “additional challenges” for motorists. .
“Different seasons bring different situations,” he clarified.
If you smell a burning odor in your car and it’s accompanied by visible smoke, you should get out of the vehicle and walk 50 to 70 feet away, and call the fire department. It should be some time before the vehicle catches fire, so all passengers should have time to evacuate.
The best way to prevent such an occurrence is to carry out regular maintenance and necessary repairs.
“Whether you’re involved in a collision or not, it’s one of the most important things you can do to prevent any fire,” De Brus said.
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