Gorski Consulting has posted a number of articles in recent years over the apparent increase of vehicle fires as a result of collisions in the vicinity of southern Ontario. Yet that concern has not be expressed by officials nor in the official news media. Little reliable information is available from data in Ontario nor in Canada. However some discussion is available to the public in the U.S.
In recent research described in “Vehicle Fires” (November, 2024) by Tucker McGree posted on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) website it was noted that vehicle fires were reduced in 2022 compared with 2005, as noted below:
“Figure 1a illustrates the trend of reported highway vehicle fires from 2005 to 2022. Highway vehicle fires were less common in 2022 than in 2005, down 69 percent. Since 2010, the average number of estimated vehicle fires has remained somewhat consistent.”
Yet the numbers of persons dying in vehicles was reported to increase “substantially”, as noted below:
“Although the number of vehicle fires has remained somewhat steady over the past 12 years, the number of civilian deaths associated with these fires has increased substantially. There was a sharp increase in civilian deaths associated with these fires in 2015, though the rate dropped again the following year. Since that time, there has been an increase each year, with a peak in civilian deaths in 2022.“
The research paper provided the following graphic to demonstrate the relationship.
Such reported deaths seem to be consistent with the observations taken from recent official news media in southern Ontario. So where does the real truth lie? It is difficult to say when the source of information cannot be relied upon.
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