Originally Posted by
DieselLSE
A bit unfair. For a start, we don't know whether they carried an extinguisher or not. Even so, an extinguisher, no matter what size, would have been completely useless. I doubt that even a full fire suppression system would have made much difference. I've successfully used an extinguisher on a slow burn electrical vehicle fire, but this one looks like it was a diesel fire, probably triggered by the DPF igniting a grass tussock or grass caught under the vehicle. In any event, trying to use a fire extinguisher on that could have endangered the user. Bad enough being stranded without being injured as well. I'd say the travellers showed good situational awareness and quick thinking in salvaging what they did, including a fully charged satphone.
Even back in my series days, I was always careful not to park the car with anything within cooee of the exhaust pipe. I'd be scared witless with a DPF in the bush.