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and advice. One thing I knew was emphasized that opening the door fire extinguishing system for your
that once your fire is discovered, is a terrible idea. Even without trailer. They’re not cheap but they
and you pull over to the side of the getting burned from the flames, one can prevent a lot of damage.
road, you shouldn’t open a trailer good whiff of the toxic smoke from
door. The reason is that opening the fire can cause you injury. As Another overlooked cause of
the door provides oxygen for the much as you may want to put out losses involves the trailer becoming
fire, and the flare-up will quickly the fire, it’s best to wait for help to separated from the tow vehicle.
make the situation more dangerous. come. Our largest loss ever involved
But, what SHOULD you do? a trailer that decided it wanted
Other suggestions for preventing to visit Philadelphia without its
“The first thing you should do is trailer fires involve contents. Many truck partner! First, you have to
call for help!”, said Simons. The racers store fuel jugs over the be certain the trailer ball properly
second step is to disconnect the wheel wells; a terrible idea given matches the hitch and check to
trailer to prevent fire damage to the the proximity to flames or debris be sure it’s properly seated and
tow vehicle. To accomplish this, from a blowout or brake fire. Store secured every time you tow.
you need to keep the manual crank fuel, nitrous and CO2 bottles in a Second, the hitch and the tongue
for the jack in your tow vehicle (in safe place in the trailer, and be sure of the trailer both have to be rated
case the electric jack is disabled) they’re secure. Also, golf carts have for the weight involved. Be sure to
along with a wood jack support caused fires; be sure their batteries check these occasionally for cracks.
block. You should also keep a are secured from tipping over and We’ve had at least two losses where
second fire extinguisher in the tow that they can’t turn on accidentally. the front of the trailer simply fell
vehicle, as well. Consider putting a master electric on the ground because of tongue
cutoff switch on the golf cart, like failure. Most racers don’t have
Simons said that if a wheel the one you have on your race car. adequate safety chains and the hook
is on fire, you can use a water Keep in mind that you can buy a for the chains on the hitch must
extinguisher on the fire. He
48 Nitro Madness Magazine SPRING 2021
