You call that a lightning strike? Pffft... THIS is a lightning strike

[Ryan McGinnis]

Next time you're under the anvil and start hearing your radio whine, try not to think about this:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cc7_1194030829

 

[Martin North]

Lol...so you think you're safe in a car or a truck huh...

Btw...some cars have radio antennas and aerials built into the windshieds. Some even have heated windscreens with microscopic meshed wires (mine does). These must increase the threat from negligable to fairly minor that you'll get zapped.

 

[David Drummond]

I've seen enough vehicle fires to know that a large amount of that damage was caused by FIRE (started by lightning I guess). We've seen plenty of vehicle strikes with little to know physical damage to cars.

The melted windshield was definite fire damage, as was the hook and all the stuff undernearth. I just wonder exactly what it was the lightning hit that caught fire?

 

[Martin North]

Could it have ignited an oil leak or something? I dunno.

Most plastic stuff in there is fairly fire retardant isn't it. I'm thinking to myself that maybe the thunderstorm was inconsequential...maybe it went on fire with an electrical fault at that time...

Alloy? hood melted above the seat of the fire perhaps...

 

[Marko Korosec]

What if this was caused by a meteor?

 

[Willie Dines]

It may be quite likely in what you say martin, after all, Lightning is hot enough to ignite an flamable fluids, and so it wouldn't suprise me if oil or something was ignited from the charge, it seems logical enough anyways

Willie

 

[David Drummond]

Could it have ignited an oil leak or something?

I would think it more likely to have ignited some of the plastics in the car. I thought about the hood liner, but those things have fire retardant in them. The glass wouldn't melt like that on just the momentary contact of the lightning, despite the heat. It would take the applied heat of a high temp fire to do that. Same with that composite hood. There was plenty evidence of fire and he even said the fire dept had to come put it out.

So I would guess probably the fastest thing to catch fire that would have been most readily available to the lightning would probably have been some plastic. Maybe even the hood itself, not sure what they are making the Ford hoods out of these days.

The cowl that goes around the base of the windshield is plastic that would burn more readily.

Even the tire, that was definitely burned by fire. Had quite a good fire going there by the time they got it put out looks like.

As I think about it too, if it got into the electrical system and superheated the wires, there are large bundles of wires that go through the firewall in that area, which could have overheated and caught fire.

 

[David Drummond]

It may be quite likely in what you say martin, after all, Lightning is hot enough to ignite an flamable fluids, and so it wouldn't suprise me if oil or something was ignited from the charge, it seems logical enough anyways

Willie

The only thing about that though, it would have had to be quite an oil leak. As in a puddle of oil some place, to be able to get burning enough to get something like that.

There are fuel lines that run through the area there as well, some of them are made of plastic. Wouldn't be a stretch to see the plastic overheat and melt and there you have plenty of fuel.

Whatever is set on fire though, most if not all of that damage was fire related.

 

[Willie Dines]

The only thing about that though, it would have had to be quite an oil leak. As in a puddle of oil some place, to be able to get burning enough to get something like that.

There are fuel lines that run through the area there as well, some of them are made of plastic. Wouldn't be a stretch to see the plastic overheat and melt and there you have plenty of fuel.

Whatever is set on fire though, most if not all of that damage was fire related.

Yes that's true, but if it was a fuel line, would there not have been a large risk that the fuel tank could have went up too? (Unfortunately, I'm not too good on car mechanics as I don't drive, but I will have to learn)

Willie

 

[David Drummond]

Yes that's true, but if it was a fuel line, would there not have been a large risk that the fuel tank could have went up too? (Unfortunately, I'm not too good on car mechanics as I don't drive, but I will have to learn)

Willie

Not really. Because the fuel system is normally a closed system, and liquid gasoline isn't going to burn as the vapors from it will. It's the vapors from the gasoline that are highly flammable. In a closed system like that, the vapors are not able to expand and become a hazard like, as if it were say you poured the gasoline out on the ground. A fire at a leak in the fuel line at the front of the vehicle doesn't pose much threat to the fuel tank unless the actual fire can reach the fuel tank, or at least enough heat to either rupture the tank so the fuel can get out and mix with some air.

That's why they always tell you to carry fuel in sealed, approved containers.

Even in this case, the gasoline available to the fire would be limited to anything left in the lines, as it's not under pressure, or fuel being delivered unless the vehicle was turned on. Makes be go back to my theory of either the plastic catching fire, or the wires.

The fuel system in a vehicle is exposed to a flame for a short instant in time every time a cylinder fires in the engine.

Vehicle fuel tanks don't explode like they do in the movies when they catch fire. Mostly because the fuel in the tank is not stored at any pressure. You would need a vessel holding the fuel that could store up enough pressure for it to BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion). Generally, vehicle fuel tanks just aren't capable of these, especially these days when so many of them are plastic.

 

[Willie Dines]

I see what you mean, thank you for clearing that up David

I guess no matter how the fire started, it's still quite a nasty mess of damage from the fire, but I guess that the guy's insurance should cover him anyways, but hopefuly he'll get a truck that has a metal hood, but then again, that may not have made much difference.

Willie

 

[David Drummond]

Yeah, indeed it was a nasty fire. They must have gotten there pretty quick, as that looks like it wasn't too far from becoming fully involved. No doubt it's a total loss, I hope he had comprehensive. Just goes to show another reason it's a good idea to carry a fire extinguisher in your chase vehicle. I am betting that could have been put out before it got to that point.

It's getting harder and harder to find vehicles with a metal skin anymore though.

 

[David Wolfson]

It's not too clear, but isn't that a rather old carburetted engine, like I used to have on my c1960s wheels? If so there was an air filter on top. Those carbs hold a cup or so of gas in the fuel bowl -- enough to get things cooking in a rubber-paper filter and other engine compartment flammables.

I wouldn't dismiss the theory that the lightning did strike the top center of the windshield, then enter the engine compartment through the wipers or some such. Skin effect is I^2R power which is plenty enough to melt the glass in a hot strike. Think fulgarites.

 

[David Drummond]

Nah, the front end design on that Ford is at least mid to late 90s, which would preclude a carbureted engine. If I remember right, the air filter box should be just behind the driver side headlight.

If you look at the windshield, both the outside and inside shots. The burn pattern is clearly from the base of the windshield to the top. Not saying it couldn't have struck the windshield, traveled over the top of it (without damaging it) and went into the metal around it. The damage to the glass is clearly related to fire.

In fact, if you really want to get down to it, the guy never said he actually saw it get struck by lightning, so we have at least allow the possibility that the fire was started by something else entirely and not even lightning related.

Fulgarite creation is just the opposite; heating of the sand to create glass.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I agree with David, most or even all of this damage is from fire. The lightning probably did not strike where most of the fire damage is. Most likely it was a hit to the radio antenna or the roof. A strike to the exterior would leave little more than some arc-welder-like burn marks at the contact point. With the faraday cage properties of a vehicle frame, it would be highly unlikely for all of the lightning current to flow through the wiring. I think the fire started on the right front tire where lightning normally makes the jump to the ground in most vehicle strikes, then the flames worked their way up from there.