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Watching the Mercedes-Benz CL 500 burn to the frame and explode twice while on fire is a very sad sight. Even the highest safety technology can't prevent the worse from happening. Gasoline is a very explosive vapor, and all cars no matter their price are susceptible to the flames. Caught burning at an intersection outside of a mall in McLean, Virginia the CL 500 is captured on tape exploding not once, but twice. The fire truck arrives to extinguish the burning pile of German engineering, but it's too late and the vehicle is a total loss.
Looking at the footage, it's hard to say what caused this fire. There are many things that can cause a vehicle fire, but the most likely cause was some kind of electrical short in the fuel system. Or, if a fuel line breaks and leaks anywhere near the exhaust, that is another probable cause of fire. We also can't rule out occupant negligence. The cause of the fire is officially unknown, and all we can do is speculate. Mercedes-Benz takes extreme pride on their safety features and final product assembly and there is no cause to believe this is a manufacturing defect. It could very well be a little fire gnome going around and igniting high dollar luxury vehicles. We just don't know!
The truth is that vehicle fires happen all the time, no matter your make or model. The fact that you are driving around with one of the most volatile substances known to man is justification enough to say each ride is a roll of the dice. Did you know that every time you pump gas into your tank, you are creating thousands of volts through static electricity? Should the grounding systems of your car fail, it's very likely an explosion will take place. Vehicles are dangerous machines and should be carefully inspected as often as possible. You never know when the unfortunate will occur!
Video content: Mercedes-Benz catches on fire
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Comments
How frightening
That is some interesting footage. I didn't seem like the gas tank was on fire (yet), but I wonder if those explosions were airbags? Would they even do that in a fire?
I would think the seatbelt tensioners wouldn't be that obvious.
Thanks for sharing Michael!
Rob
Regarding the air bags, there's an explosive force used to detonate them made of KNO3 and NaN3 (potassium nitrate and sodium azide). If these charges aren't deployed prior to the fire, their chemical properties are conducive to explosions. If they have been deployed, there is no chance of fire except for the nylon material in the air bag b/c the gas created that actually fills the bag is Nitrogen, an inert gas which is a result of the explosive KNO3 heating up the sodium azide to it's breaking point of 300C which it then converts to nitrogen molecules and becomes no flammable, extinguishing the potassium nitrate explosion so it doesn't burn through the bags and your face lol.
my mercedes also caught fire while driving my daughter to school! and it came from the 2nd row passenger side. Its the saddest thing to see your car burn to the ground iam still in shock!
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