How do Trucks Burn?

Monty Reid

Ottawa, Feb 6, 2022
(with apologies to Randolph Harris)

  

1.   Electrical Short - Engine compartment
 common cause       usually under   
 and combustible components       include
other locations       it won’t stop
around metal components      rubbing and start
any nearby combustibles      a fire from another source
or was merely a result 

 

2.  Arson
about somebody
lack of       or lack of
 an unpopulated area        accelerate the fire
but rarely in the engine compartment       the evidence is gone
however      remains also
samples taken from properly       the debris can distinguish
because it ignites more easily       arson is suspected
before the gasoline evaporates.

 

3    Trailer Fires
truck fires don’t usually       which should be obvious
which can fail      an axle should be obvious
to ignite residual grease       the normal question is 
for the adjacent wheels        innocent bearings should look good
brakes can        compare these
consider the possibility of a flat tire.

 

4     Fluid Leaks
Diesel fuel, hydraulic oil, antifreeze, power steering fluid, butane, brake fluid, windshield washer fluid, and engine oil are all
mainly because gasoline       diesel fuel has to be
most trucks have the fuels       are somewhat separated.
however, fuel leaks can        the turbo runs hot
with its housing       during the fire
It should be determined.

 

5     Exhaust Systems
a driver changed a tire
 and strapped the old torn up tire
 to the back of his cab

the torn rubber flapped
against the vertical exhaust pipe
caught on fire and burned
the entire tractor and trailer.

 

 

Monty Reid is an Ottawa poet. He likes trains, he likes trucks, but is furious about the Ottawa occupation.