Other than the movie industry will have us believe post collision vehicle fires are a very seldom event. Nevertheless they pose an enormous threat to the occupants. Due to the small figure and the inevitable combination with accident damages only little reliable statistical data on post collision vehicle fires is available. The official German accident statistic does not contain the parameter fire. According to an estimate made by the German Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt), about 80 persons are killed by fire or its side effects each year on German roads. The German Insurance Association (GDV) counted about 40,000 vehicle fire claims in 1999. About 6% of these fires were caused by a traffic accident. But also this statistic does not permit a direct transfer to the accident occurrence by different reasons. American data like the FARS data provides a good overview with the limitation of only fatal accidents.

The paper presents the results of different studies concerning the post-collision vehicle fire occurrence. Based on an analysis of own accident reconstructions and fire investigations the most common damage patterns resulting in fires were identified. Own fire tests with damaged cars and a screening of different video clips available through internet portals rounded up the study.