'MIICROFICHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - Cd3wd.com

5.00 - 5.01&ng a tire, pick the worst one on the car, take it off the rim, and arrangea good pile of kindling to get it started. A tire is hard to ignite, andsome rags so&ed in ga- 3 or some other source of heat will be needed to startitburning. Once started, the fire will produce a great deal of thick bla&stroke.At night, rrake a fire on high ground so that it can be seen.5.01 Vehicle SubmergedIf a car has become subrrerged in water it may be considered stranded,since the engine cannot be used to extricate it. The principal considerationat first will be getting all the occupants out and marking the location ofthe car. Then recovery operations can be arranged.GETTING OUT of a submerged car is no trouble if the doors have beenremoved. If they have rrot, the water pressure will prevent them from beingopened until the car has nearly filled with water. For this reason it willbe necessary to escape through a window or wait until the car has nearlyfilledbefore openingadoor. Inatightlybuilt car this may take as muchas several hours, although generally ten or fifteen minutes is a n-ore averagetiJ-iE.LIFE PRESERVFRS may be arranged for those who cannot swim if the caris scsne distancefromland. In many 4wD cars the seat cushions are of foamrubber, andwill float. Bnpty or partially empty fuel cans are excellentfloats, and a spare tire will float even while carrying the weight of thesteel rim.MiCUING THE LJXATION may be important if the car is likely to be n-ovedby currant or to be hard to find for any other reason. Tie a rope or stringto the carandattachthe otherendto afloat for amarker.ANCHOR THE CAR if it is in fast-nrsving water where it may be carriedoff by current. It can be tied with rope or cable to any secure anchor onthelandsuchas atree.SALVAGE OPERUIONS become quite routine in soms areas where bridgesare not reliable, or where roads often follow waterways. In the Netherlands,for example, emergency crews have been formed whose sole job is the recoveryof vehicles fram canals.A winch on a recovery vehicle can usually provide enough power to haulout a submerged car. Winching teohniques for salvage are described in section6.40. If no win& is available, two or IIDKE vehicles may be needed to pullout the submzrged'car. The towing cable shouldbe attached to front towinghooks on the submrged car, or toits front axle. If the car is not uprightunder the water, it will be much easier to right it while most of the weightis supported by the water than after it is on land. This can be done withcables to the salvage vehicles.Whenthemrhas beenbroughtnearl.andandstartstorise from-thesurface of the water, it will be necessary to let any water drain out of ittolightentheloadonthe1~covery vehicles, Openany doors or otherwater-retaining barriers to drain the car as completely as possible as itcams out of the water.