[rallyrcr]

instead of fretting over having to have a cat. on your car and the likelyhood of it starting a fire vs. not having one and the likelyhood of that starting a fire.... why don't you ensure that you service crew members are aware of the potential danger and have extra extinguishers? a little common sense and precaution may save a few stages. with all the other problems this year this seems to be a no-brainer.

regards

 

[Trevor Donison]

>instead of fretting over having to have a cat. on your car
>and the likelyhood of it starting a fire vs. not having one
>and the likelyhood of that starting a fire.... why don't you
>ensure that you service crew members are aware of the
>potential danger and have extra extinguishers? a little
>common sense and precaution may save a few stages. with all
>the other problems this year this seems to be a no-brainer.
>
>regards

Perhaps we should ban the Cats and smoking spectators too?

 

[rallyrcr]

what good would banning the cats do?
I am all for banning the smoking spectators.

 

[Lurch]

>instead of fretting over having to have a cat. on your car
>and the likelyhood of it starting a fire vs. not having one
>and the likelyhood of that starting a fire.... why don't you
>ensure that you service crew members are aware of the
>potential danger and have extra extinguishers? a little
>common sense and precaution may save a few stages. with all
>the other problems this year this seems to be a no-brainer.
>

Yes. Of course. Why didn't I think of that? Tell me, should I carry these extinguisher-ready crew in a trailer behind the rally car? Or should I dig up those plans for the sidecar concept I have been working on. I suppose as long as they don't actually discharge the extinguisher it cannot be considered illegal servicing.

Obviously, my concern isn't for burning down service areas. Yes, we have 3 service fire extinguishers and the guys know how to use them. My concern is for burning down FORESTS.

Thanks for bringing this "no-brainer" to my attention.

 

[RichardM]

Actually, this brings up a good point. Your average dry chemical extinguisher is useless on a grass fire. We should all have a water based extinguisher available. I have 2 I got from Pete. I managed to leave them in the house when we went to OFPR.
Richard

 

[rallyrcr]

you are right of course. since there is no obvious or simple solution, the best thing to do is nothing. why try to minimize the possibility of a fire?
perhaps competitors could be asked or told to look and be aware. maybe they would be able to do something. I would assume that stage marshall, etc will have extinguishers with them.
obviously there is no simple or fool-proof solution. there are steps that can be taken to minimize the risk.

 

[John Vanlandingham]

No brainer....

>instead of fretting over having to have a cat. on your car
>and the likelyhood of it starting a fire vs. not having one
>and the likelyhood of that starting a fire.... why don't you
>ensure that you service crew members are aware of the
>potential danger and have extra extinguishers? a little
>common sense and precaution may save a few stages. with all
>the other problems this year this seems to be a no-brainer.

>
>regards
the danger centers around a) blowing hunks of ceramic crap oout the back of the tail pipe, and
b) when cars stuff themselves into the trees and brush out on stages, they do sometimes do that, that's a no brainer to figure out.

So how is extra fire extinguishers and a aware service crew gonna help when the car goes off 22 miles from service?
Or merely pulls over to the edge to change a flat.

Derek "Uncorked" Bottles already started damp moss smoldering in March
at Doo wopsd in the drizzle.

So...............

It is obvious that this is has become from SCCA side about not backing down, as usual.
Because the reality is established already.






John "My Brain Hurts!" Vanlandingham
Seattle, WA. 98168

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

Black Rocket Rally Tires
http://www.blackrockettires.com/

 

[TNT205]

RE: Here we go again

Acually Schroth has DOT leagal 3in belts.
The Profi3-FE line.
Todd

 

[P Remner]

RE: No brainer....

>the danger centers around a) blowing hunks of ceramic crap
>oout the back of the tail pipe, and
>b) when cars stuff themselves into the trees and brush out
>on stages, they do sometimes do that, that's a no brainer to
>figure out.

Logically then it should be a no brainer to solve, yes?

These problems can both be solved by rules.

A is easily solved. We already know that turbines are great spark arresters, anything large enough to be a spark is too heavy to make it through the turbine, it just gets bounced around until it's light to pass through. The solution, then, is clear.. the turbo must be mounted *after* the converter. Subaru does this already on the WRX so we know it works, right?

B is also easily solved with rules. Simply make a rule that says you can't crash or otherwise go off the course.

After all, adding rules fixes everything....

 

[Lurch]

Allright. I'm signing off on this one, now. Gotta sleep to catch a morning flight to the Great Northwest. I didn't aim to change the world with this one. Just wanted to bring it to surface that:

A) my catalytic converter started a fire after a very short stint at WOT in a not real dry area with the engine turned off and after melting through a thick plastic tarp.

B) this has me deeply concerned about my responsibilies as a land user and my liability as a business owner/individual.

Just as the SCCA has a risk management department to assess liability and risk, I also put that hat on for myself and my business at times. This one don't look good.

I'll let you know what I find out about racer's liability wrt forest fires.

Cheers,
Lurch

 

[RichardM]

The land use permit with at least one land owner puts SCCA in the position of reimbursing them for the costs of fighting any fire caused by the rally. Catalytic convertors are legal devices. Smoking outside of a closed car is not in some areas. Therefore, if you start a fire with the car by accident, the SCCA will pay to fight the fire. If you start a fire by smoking, you are in trouble. My opinion and I don't even play a lawyer on TV.
Richard

 

[Gravel Spray]

I have seen news articles about campers who in-advertantly started forest/wildfires, and were held accountable. They were also held accountable for the deaths of fire fighters who were fighting the fire.

Is it worth it?



Pete

 

[RichardM]

>I have seen news articles about campers who in-advertantly
>started forest/wildfires, and were held accountable. They
>were also held accountable for the deaths of fire fighters
>who were fighting the fire.
>
>Is it worth it?
>
>
>
>Pete
Can you provide a source for that? My guess with absolutely no real knowledge beyond reading the news alot, is that these campers who inadvertently started the fires did so by by having an open campfire which was prohibited at the time or by smoking or by being in the woods when the woods were posted as closed. The closest to a genuine accident starting a fire that caused the person to be charged was the guy towing a car behind his RV. The car being towed had a flat and was sending out a mile long string of sparks. The RV driver ignored others honking and trying to get him to stop.
Richard

 

[Foghorn]

How about this? http://www.the-scoop-news.com/cgi-local/news.cgi?folder=stories&next=135

If you can't trust Mr. The Bear, who can you trust?

But seriously, how about this one? http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/07/07252002/s_47948.asp

I did a google search on "forest fires camper arrested" and got lots of hits.

Kent Gardam