How Not To

Step 34 Solar Dish Truck Fire

A friend gave me some small dish mirrors from her solar concentrator company.

This very afternoon in the parking lot at In+Out burger we came out and found the truck bed looking different. There was a charred burnt cardboard box in the bed.
The area smelled like a fresh fire. The truckbed was filled with yellow dust.

Bystanders told us the story:
"Your car was going up in flames!" One woman enthusiastically described. "I tried to pull
out the tubing, but it was already too hot!"

The plates must have caught the sun and concentrated it onto the boxes!
Apparently the solar concentrators work so well, that, just sitting in the back of the
truck on a nice day, they focused the light onto the cardboard box and lit it up!

While we placidly finished our burgers inside the restaurant and learned about the book of Mormon from our table-mates, spectators ran into In-n'-out asking for a fire extinguisher. The manager came out and sprayed dust all over the place quenched the fire and everyone felt good like heroes and went home. There was a can of ether starting fluid in the bed, fortunately it didn't catch. Ditto the box of artificial fiber clothing.

Comments

[Goodluck]

That red canister (oxygen) looks to be full given that the plastic protective cap is still in place. It could have made things really 'exciting'!