Fire Prevention For Off Road Toys - School Me Please

[Dockmaster]

Seeing some horrific recent posts of bad fires in sand rails and SxS gets me thinking about what are the ways to prevent these fires? Suppression systems and extinguishers are great but what are some best practices to prevent the fire in the first place? I’m not talking about common sense stuff like inspecting hoses and clamps although that is certainly an important first step. I’m more interested in things like spray shields, hose sleeves, certain types of hoses, fittings or clamps and similar things. Perhaps fuel roll over shutoff valves? What else? 
I’m in the marine industry and fire prevention is a huge issue. If you’re out on the ocean and get an uncontrolled fire you have limited options on where to go to get away. So we have lots of requirements for spray shields, non-combustible materials, low smoke emitting materials and many such items. But most of the marine fuels are diesel or heavier oil fuels so won’t flash as quickly as gasoline.  
Curious what you all do on your off road toys to prevent fires?

 

[1tonfun]

Inspect regularly for chaffing hoses/wires. Replace fuel lines every couple of years. Use a fuel cell instead of the normal fuel tank in most buggies. Firewall between the engine area and passenger compartment/fuel tank. I have a firewall that runs from the bottom of the car up to the middle of the chassis between the engine and fuel tank. Everything on my car is insulated, hoses and wires have a wrap where ever they cross a tube or other lines or where they might rub. I have a master dead man switch on the dash that will kill power to everything wired on the hot side. Don't have a fuel shut off for a roll over but the tank vent does have a float that will close in the event of a roll over to keep fuel from spilling out of the vent. A fire suppression system might give you enough time to get out and avoid serious injury.

 

[EastMT]

I used hydraulic hose spiral wrap on my fuel lines. Just a carry over from hydraulic lines on tractors. Figured it would serve the same purpose to prevent chafing. They sell nylon sleeves for the same purpose but I thought using those would delay finding a leak as the leak would get soaked up and or just run down the sleeve to the low spot. 
Also interested to know what others are doing.
 

 

[JWEST2SH]

 I had a fire once...scared the heck out of me becasue my son was in the back seat.  It was the power steering pump that blew up and caused a flash fire when the PS fliud hit the exhaust.  Lukily it went out when I killed the motor.  After that I installed a fuel cell with internal foam to prevent sloshing and excess vapor.  I changed all the fuel lines from rubber to steel braided PTFE and all AN fittings.  I used Fragola fittings and hose on everything...no chineesium here.  It was expensive up front but I don't have to change lines every two years any more.  I added a 10lb AFFF fire suppression system from ESS .  I plumbed it with -4 line with nozzles over the fuel cell, the fuel regulator and both headers.  The nozzle over the fuel cell will foam the backs seat also.  I added a fire wall between the back seats and the motor/fuel system and I also keep two high quality fire extinguishers on on quick relases on the B pillars behind the front seats.  I did a thread on all the stuff I did years ago but it was lost when the site crashed.  

~jw 

 

[Bobalos]

IMO, this should be a sticky.  @John@Outfront, do you agree???

 

[Dockmaster]

 I had a fire once...scared the heck out of me becasue my son was in the back seat.  It was the power steering pump that blew up and caused a flash fire when the PS fliud hit the exhaust.  Lukily it went out when I killed the motor.  After that I installed a fuel cell with internal foam to prevent sloshing and excess vapor.  I changed all the fuel lines from rubber to steel braided PTFE and all AN fittings.  I used Fragola fittings and hose on everything...no chineesium here.  It was expensive up front but I don't have to change lines every two years any more.  I added a 10lb AFFF fire suppression system from ESS .  I plumbed it with -4 line with nozzles over the fuel cell, the fuel regulator and both headers.  The nozzle over the fuel cell will foam the backs seat also.  I added a fire wall between the back seats and the motor/fuel system and I also keep two high quality fire extinguishers on on quick relases on the B pillars behind the front seats.  I did a thread on all the stuff I did years ago but it was lost when the site crashed.  

~jw 

Excellent info, thanks for sharing. 

 

[Okie]

This is what I am doing:

AFFF cable pull (I don't trust or have enough knowledge for auto activation) system for fire SUPPRESSION. 

My co-worker, who is a sensor/electronic wizard, fabricated me a fire SENSOR system. 5 sensors in engine/fuel areas. They activate a flashing red light on my dash. They only sense flames. I will try to add video.

My suppression nozzles are over the fuel cell/pump(behind the passenger-my MAIN concern), top of engine/headers, and over the turbo.

I might add a smaller, separate system for the seat areas.