How to Escape From a Burning Car

A burning car is a death trap. Smoke accumulates quickly within the sealed doors and windows and rising heat and the fire itself make a time bomb out of the gas tank. Escape from a burning car is a difficult but doable challenge that requires fast thinking and even faster acting. Follows these steps to understand how to escape from a car on fire.

Step 1 : Stay as calm as you can. The worst possible thing that you can do is panic. Panic will cause you to waste precious seconds and make mistakes that could end up being tragic. It's important for you to focus on one thing, and one thing alone: getting out.

Step 2 : Unlock the doors and windows. Do whatever you can to accomplish this critical step. Even if you cannot open the door yourself, unlocking the doors will give bystanders or rescuers a good shot of getting you out of the burning vehicle quickly.

Step 3 : Get your seat belt off. This must be done quickly so the heat of the fire does not fuse the metal of the buckle to its anchor. If the metal is too hot to touch, use a piece of cloth to cover your hand so that you can release the buckle. If the buckle won't release, push the shoulder strap over your head and try lifting your legs out from underneath the waist strap.

Step 4 : Kick out a window. If you cannot get the door open, the next best thing is to kick out a window. Getting a window open will allow smoke to exit the car and will also give you an escape route. Use both feet against a side window, if possible, to shatter and then pop the window out of the frame.