Yep. Just tried it. Both Peak and Prestone (e-glychol), undiluted.
Nothing.
I even poured some denatured alcohol in the middle and lit it.
A little of the glycol burnt off, but even that was not enough for a sustaining fire.
Do you know if the newer p-glycol more flammable? I don't have any of that to play with.
Did you try it with anti-freeze heated to the boiling point of water (212F), and spray it on the fire (mimicking the action of a punctured radiator)? Here's an account of an anti-freeze fire encountered by some firefighters:
Recently we experienced an engine fire in a large haul truck. Other than the overall size of the truck, the basic configuration of the motor, turbocharger, coolant system, etc., is quite similar to other heavy duty trucks.The fire, and resultant damage, was minor due to quick action by nearby maintenance personnel responding with a dry chem. fire extinguisher. The driver stated he could smell anti-freeze in the cab of the truck, however assumed it was a minor leak and continued to drive the truck to find a good place to pull over to inspect the problem without blocking other traffic. Other personnel that saw the truck go by noticed a coolant leak in the engine compartment (off side mounted engine) and gave notice to the driver via radio. The driver stopped and as he walked around the truck to inspect the problem he saw a fire in the engine compartment. The flames were reported to be a distinctive blue color. The driver stated at no time was there any yellow color to the flames. The fire progressed in size quickly until extinguished w/ a hand held 10 lb. dry chem. FE. The on-board self-contained fire suppression system was not discharged.
An investigation revealed a flex coupling ruptured. This coupling joined two hard lines carrying coolant. Coolant under pressure was sprayed all over the engine compartment including in the vicinity of the turbocharger. The hard lines w/ coupler was located directly on top of the valve cover of the motor. The source of the ignition of the fire could not be determined until information regarding ethylene glycol was researched. Ethylene glycol has an auto-ignition temperature of 748 deg. F., and will flash burn at lower temperatures if atomized in the vicinity of temp.’s at or greater than 250 deg. F. Turbochargers typically demonstrate temperatures well in excess of these numbers. A coolant mix of water and ethylene glycol based anti-freeze in the presence of these high temperatures will decompose the water out of solution and the remaining ethylene glycol may undergo auto-ignition. The resulting fire may be similar to an alcohol fire, resulting in a blue flame.
I agree it’s a possibility.
But wouldn’t this be a fairly common outcome in wrecks where the headlights and radiator are involved?
I really don’t think it is. I asked my buddy who’s an EMT in the city and sees wrecks all the time and he says he’s heard of it.
I agree it’s a possibility.
But wouldn’t this be a fairly common outcome in wrecks where the headlights and radiator are involved?
I really don’t think it is. I asked my buddy who’s an EMT in the city and sees wrecks all the time and he says he’s not heard of it.