In the city of Raipur in central India, a cleaning decision caused a hatchback to burst into flames on Thursday, all because of humankind’s new best friend, an alcohol-based bottle of hand sanitiser.
The incident occurred in the Indravati Bhavan neighbourhood of Raipur after a person tried to clean his car by spraying sanitiser on its body, while it stood parked under the scorching sun. Videos of help arriving to control the smoke-cloud causing fire mishap have been making the rounds on social media.
Someone tried to clean the car by spraying the normal sanitizer. And the car burst into flames as soon as it was started! This is at Indravati Bhavan, Raipur, #Chhattisgarh! Never clean the car this way! #firesafety pic.twitter.com/546bJn38sl
— Ananth Rupanagudi (@rananth) May 20, 2020
As of now, the exact details of how it happened remain unclear, but netizens are associating the incident with basic science, saying the solution does not go well with hot temperatures.
Sanitizer has minimum 60% alcohol which are highly inflamable and also never keep the sanitizer inside the car during summer and leave the car.
— KGR (@adnivog_kgr) May 20, 2020
This is not the first time a sanitiser bottle has posed a danger to people and vehicles around it. In the past months, incidents of sanitisers being kept inside cars and exploding into hot gel have been making the rounds on social media.
Earlier in May, the eyeballs of a 13-year old UK-based girl were injured after a hand sanitiser bottle oozed out hot gel. According to media reports, the bottle was kept inside her mother’s Mercedes for days.
Netizens are now advising fellow social media users to avoid permanently keeping sanitisers inside cars, especially during the summer.
Pro tip: hand sanitizer will explode when opened after being left in a hot car. On a positive note, my hands are very sanitized right now. @FLVetsAffairs 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ulxghdzCpD
— Danny Burgess (@DannyBurgessFL) March 30, 2020
Media reports around the world have been stressing how alcohol-based sanitisers that are often classified as “icy flammable liquid” are even capable of producing vapours which may catch fire.
Citing experts, the reports have also said that people are advised to carry a sanitiser bottle in their pockets when they’re leaving their houses, and bring the bottle back inside once they are back home. The solution is meant to be stored in a cool place, especially away from direct sunlight.
