State Fire Marshal’s Office on Avoiding and Managing Car Fires

Suppose your vehicle were reduced to a charcoaled husk. You'd be devastated, right? The State Fire Marshal's Office has published guidelines on avoiding this calamity.

Our society is car-dependent; in many parts of the country, driving is the only viable mode of transportation. So if your personal vehicle catches fire, it's a big problem.

It's also pretty common - the fourth leading fire cause in Washington State. There were nearly 3,600 such blazes in Washington last year. Typically the only casualty is the vehicle itself. But last year over a dozen Washingtonians lost their lives.

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The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that vehicle fires are many times deadlier than residential fires. Yikes! These fires are also burdensome financially. "Content and property losses," according to a SFMO press release, amounted to $167M last year - and that's just in Washington!

So what's a motorist to do?

For starters, you should drive carefully and obey traffic laws to the letter.

Your car's manufacturer has specific vehicle maintenance instructions. Again, you should rigidly adhere to these instructions because they are not open to interpretation.

In the event of an actual fire, please do the following:

• Pull over
• Turn off your engine
• Whisk passengers out of the vehicle
• Retreat to a safe location; distance is of the essence here. You should be no closer than 100 feet from a burning car
• Dial 911
• Do not reapproach or return to the vehicle

The U.S. Fire Administration has some additional information.

The State Fire Marshal's Office can be reached at 360-596-3904.