What to Do If Your Car Catches Fire

By Fire Safety BD · Last updated 2026-10-05

The first sixty seconds: stop, switch off, get everyone out and away — and when it is safe to use the extinguisher.

A vehicle fire grows fast, and the smoke from burning plastics and fuel is toxic. The car can be replaced. The order of what you do in the first minute is what matters.

The first minute

1. Signal and pull over as soon as it is safe, away from buildings, other vehicles and fuel pumps if you can.
2. Switch off the engine and apply the handbrake.
3. Get everyone out. Leave bags and belongings.
4. Move well away, off the road and upwind of the smoke, and keep others back.
5. Call 999 and give the road, direction and nearest landmark.

Should you use the extinguisher?

Only if all of these are true:

• everyone is already out and the fire service has been called;
• the fire is small — for example a little smoke or flame at the edge of the engine bay;
• you can stay between the fire and your escape, with the wind at your back.

Aim at the base of the flames and sweep from side to side. If it does not go out with one extinguisher, move away.

Do not

• Do not open the bonnet fully.
• Do not go back for a phone, bag or documents.
• Do not stand in front of or behind the vehicle, or near burning tyres, which can burst.
• Do not fight a fire that has reached the fuel tank or a CNG or LPG cylinder — clear the area and wait for the fire service.

Reducing the risk

• Have electrical faults, repeated blown fuses and fuel smells fixed promptly.
• Have CNG or LPG conversions and cylinders installed and tested by an authorised workshop, and keep retesting up to date.
• Do not carry loose fuel containers in the cabin.
• Carry an extinguisher in a bracket near the driver's seat and check its gauge regularly.