Don’t Leave Your Hand Sanitizer in Your Hot Car
A Facebook post has gone viral after a Wisconsin fire department warned its residents of the dangers of leaving hand sanitizer in their vehicles on a warm day. The post showed a charred car door, which caught the attention of many concerned citizens.
The Western Lakes Fire District posted the concerning photo that has me checking my car for hand sanitizer.
Here is what the WLFD said on their Facebook page:
"Let’s start today with a little education! We’ve chatted in the past about clear water bottles being kept in your vehicle when the weather is warm. That still holds true and so does hand sanitizer!"
My question here is where was this photo taken? A fire official claims this photo was actually taken in Brazil. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this viral post. A study found that hand sanitizer would need to reach a temp of 300 degrees to ignite a fire. Vehicles can only reach 160 degrees, which is still hot enough to kill or injure humans and pets, but can it make a bottle of hand sanitizer combust?
"By its nature, most hand sanitizer is alcohol-based and therefore flammable. Keeping it in your car during hot weather, exposing it to the sun causing magnification of light through the bottle, and particularly being next to open flame while smoking in vehicles or grilling while enjoying this weekend can lead to disaster. Please respect the possibilities and be fire safe."
You heard it, keep the hand sanitizer far away from direct sunlight, the grill, and drop that cigarette.