Yes, A Water Bottle Can Start A Fire In Your Car - Here's How It Happens
Each year when summer rolls around, lists of tips and reminders about staying safe in extreme heat surface like clockwork. For example, wearing loose-fitting, lightweight clothing and avoiding strenuous outdoor activities during the peak midday hours. Perhaps the most frequent advice is to stay hydrated by consuming plenty of water. However, some fire departments warn that keeping drinking water on hand in your vehicle comes with an usual risk. Specifically, that refreshing clear plastic bottle of water in your center console could actually start a fire under the right conditions. Wait, what?
Empty water bottles might be benign, but a full clear plastic bottle creates a magnifying effect for sunlight streaming in through the windshield. It's like when kids entertain themselves by trying to start a fire or burn insects using a magnifying glass. Except in this instance, it's your precious car's seats or interior trim that's going to be scorched to medium-well.
The ability for an errant water bottle in your car's cupholder to pose a fire hazard seems far-fetched, but at least one near-miss has occurred. As reported by Today, an Idaho power company employee on his lunch break noticed smoke emanating from the center console of his truck in July 2017. Fortunately, the truck's owner removed the water bottle before an actual conflagration started, although he was left with two small holes burned into a front seat.
When local firefighters re-created the above incident for educational purposes (see the video above), it was observed that the beam of light from a water bottle exceeded 400 degrees and burned through a dark sheet of paper within mere seconds. So what should you do instead? It's a natural tendency to store a water bottle or two within the easy reach of a cupholder — even the weird square ones in the Lexus TX — but consider a shadier spot instead, like the trunk.
Besides potentially starting a fire, some experts say that high temperatures may cause chemicals in the bottle's plastic to leach into its contents, making the concoction unsafe to drink. To be fair, makers of such bottles contend otherwise, but erring on the side of caution could be prudent. The solution, of course, is to invest in a quality reusable water bottle instead. Not only are they better for the environment than disposable plastics, they won't send your precious vehicle up in flames like a Waymo in Los Angeles.
