New definition for a "hot car"

[mu26aeh]

Found this while winding down after work this evening/morning

[John]

From the video caption

Wednesday February 28,2024 just after 2am kern County fire department dispatch to a reinforced vehicle fire for a train on fire off Edison Highway & East California Ave
As the Firefighters open the doors it was determined to be massive paper rolls fully involved
Kern County Fire decided to close the container to let it self burn out

I was wondering how they were going to do this .. probably not a lot of hydrants track side   wouldn't they want the railroad to disconnect the cars on either side - we saw in the Baltimore Tunnel fire how it spread to other cars ..

I wonder what the ignition cause was -- internal heat?

[jagged ben]

Interestingly, the same guy has a video of an autorack on fire in the same area, four days earlier.

[John]

Probably teslas 

[jagged ben]

Probably teslas 

Nah, they wouldn't have been able to put out the fire so quickly.   

[peteski]

You think it is a blatant firebug showing his "work"? 

[Missaberoad]

I wonder if it was ignited by heat produced from the paper drying and being tightly packed in a confined space?
Similar to how haybales catch fire.

Not sure if that's a thing with paper or if I'm out to lunch.

[John]

Maybe.  But I see online that paper ignition occurs at 400 some degrees.  There had to be another ignition source or some fuel that flashes at lower temps.  I’ll defer to the resident fire fighters.  My last training was over 30 years ago on my last ship.  🚢.  Sheesh

[RockGp40]

Maybe.  But I see online that paper ignition occurs at 400 some degrees.  There had to be another ignition source or some fuel that flashes at lower temps.  I’ll defer to the resident fire fighters.  My last training was over 30 years ago on my last ship.  🚢.  Sheesh

Mice with matches?

I'd be willing to bet this was a set fire. It's not hard to break a seal, open the door, and light it on fire.

[eric220]

Mice with matches?

Cows with guns

[nkalanaga]

New cars are shipped with charged batteries and fuel in the tank, so an autorack fire isn't too surprising.  Could be vandals, could be a defect in the auto.

[Hawghead]

I've never had an auto rack catch on fire, but I've seen a couple of box cars with paper products catch on fire.  I think it's like someone mentioned, that under the right conditions you can get spontaneous combustion like in a hay stack.

Scott   

[Ken Martin]

I believe temperature for paper ignition is "Farenheit 451"

[nkalanaga]

Ken:  It varies with the paper, with wood-pulp paper somewhere in the mid-400s F, 424 to 475 seem to be a common range.  But spontaneous combustion really is a thing in paper.  A little moisture and let it sit until the interior heats up.

Cardboard, on the other hand, won't ignite until about 800F, mostly because it's heavier paper, and takes longer to heat up.

Here's probably more than you wanted to know about burning paper:
https://firefighterinsider.com/at-what-temperature-does-paper-burn-ignite-revealed/

[Chris333]

So does a "sheet" of paper ignite the same as a tightly wound roll?