Start a Fire with Water? This sounds crazy, but apparently it has happened. If you leave a plastic bottle of water sitting your car on a hot summer day, the sun shining through it...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

This sounds crazy, but apparently it has happened. If you leave a plastic bottle of water sitting your car on a hot summer day, the sun shining through it could act like a magnifying glass.

"Seems backwards that water could cause fire, but the secret is in the round bottle shape. On a hot day, the sun shines through the window and through the full water bottle. Like a magnifying glass, the water inside concentrates the light—and its heat—to one spot. The point on the seat where the rays are focused can get hot enough to create flames.

And we’re not just talking hypotheticals here. In a Facebook video from Idaho Power, stations battery technician Dioni Amuchastegui says it happened to him. Amuchastegui was sitting in his parked car eating lunch when he noticed smoke inside. Taking a closer look, he realized the spot of light under his water bottle was starting to catch fire. “I had to do a double take,” says Amuchastegui. “It was hot enough to start burning a hole through the seat.”

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

jerryc41 wrote:

This sounds crazy, but apparently it has happened.... (show quote)

Read about that in an outdoor type magazine.

sourdough58 Loc: Maine

Yes it's true, I teach survival in Boy Scouts and on a challenge I started a fire with Ice, it was not easy, getting a chunk of ice without bubbles and shaving it to make a magnifying glass was not worth the trouble, friction fire is more reliable but water will do it.

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

In the 70's and 80's I had responded to a couple of wildland fires where discarded glass had acted as a magnifying source and started the dry grass burning which rapidly developed into brush fires. All were determined by investigating the site of origin. Even had one start at a makeshift rural shooting range (broken bottles) and unspent rounds were popping off in the fire/embers. That made firefighting interesting for sure.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

sourdough58 wrote:

Yes it's true, I teach survival in Boy Scouts and on a challenge I started a fire with Ice, it was not easy, getting a chunk of ice without bubbles and shaving it to make a magnifying glass was not worth the trouble, friction fire is more reliable but water will do it.

Yes, I can see how that would be a less than ideal survival technique.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

sourdough58 wrote:

Yes it's true, I teach survival in Boy Scouts and on a challenge I started a fire with Ice, it was not easy, getting a chunk of ice without bubbles and shaving it to make a magnifying glass was not worth the trouble, friction fire is more reliable but water will do it.

Personally , I carry extra matches, or an old zippo type lighter!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

bobmcculloch wrote:

Personally , I carry extra matches, or an old zippo type lighter!

When I was in the Boy Scouts, I made up a kit with a bit of metal, and rock, steel wool, and charred cloth. It was very easy to start a fire with that.

Vlemasters

A plexiglas canopy burnt a streak about 3 inches long on my experimental airplane. Lord only knows why there wasn’t a fire.

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

Forgot the most important ingredient: sun light. A book of matches works well… at night.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

jerryc41 wrote:

This sounds crazy, but apparently it has happened.... (show quote)

Another reason to not have a bottle of water on your seat is that it can roll off and if it lands on the driver's floor it is instantly a hazard. If it rolls under the brake pedal a person could end up crashing their car since they could not stop in a timely manner. And speaking of bottled water -- what did we do 40 years ago? When traveling, did we just stay thirsty until we got to our destination? And who would have imagined the proliferation of bottled water? When it first came out there were basically two kinds -- spring and distilled. Now there are hundreds of brands, flavors, and sizes. Some people have no problem paying several dollars for a single bottle of water like Fiji or VOSS. We used to drink from a garden hose and we live still! Due to the dangers presented by bottled water and the cost, do we really need it?

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

My dad told me that palm fronds woven together made a great snow shelter. This along with numerous bits of survival advice. He was one of the funniest guys ever and had a deadpan delivery. My wife thought he’d been married before. He married my mom by referring to hi ex wife would bake cakes or make the best fried chicken and such. We’d been married 5 years before she figured out that being 21 and marrying my 19 year old mother didn’t give him time to be married more than once.

Vlemasters

Vlemasters wrote:

A plexiglas canopy burnt a streak about 3 inches long on my experimental airplane seat. Lord only knows why there wasn’t a fire.

HOHIMER

Bridges wrote:

Another reason to not have a bottle of water on yo... (show quote)

Canvas bags, bladders, canteens and barrels

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Bridges wrote:

Another reason to not have a bottle of water on yo... (show quote)

Right! That's caused more than one accident. A misplaced camera caused a commercial airliner to crash. The captain wasn't able to operate the controls, and down it went.

In another incident (not really related) the two pilots were reading a newspaper and doing a crossword puzzle. They didn't see the other airliner coming toward them. Big crash and lots of deaths. I think we're seeing the same thing with self-driving Teslas.