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95 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 m ETRO m AGAZINE > ly the safety of the passengers. SP will be publishing its top most wanted fire-related issues of which a few are listed below. S ome projects have already been funded and are in progress, other are awaiting funding opportunities: Wheel well fres (containment, pre- venting fre through window) The exposed environment and deep seated fire risk makes wheel well fires particularly difficult to detect and sup- p re s s. Te s t s hav e s h ow n t hat i t c a n take less than 5 minutes before toxic fumes and smoke enter the passenger compartment. Tire pressure/temper- ature monitoring systems represent one method for early detection; oth- er methods need to be explored. Early testing of some coatings in the wheel well area have been shown to provide a significant increase in the evacua - tion time before toxic fumes enter the passenger compartment. Continued work in this area could provide a low- cost solution. Bulkheads/fire partitions (smoke tightness) The bulkheads between high-risk areas such as the engine compartment and the passenger compartment can allow tox ic fumes and flame spread into the passenger compartment. New materials present new challenges as does the increased complexity of sys- tems connecting from the engine com- partment into the driver area. Meth- ods to contain the fire in the engine compartment would mean better pas- senger safety and less damage from flame spread. Detection systems SP is currently working on a project funded by the Strategic Vehicle Re- search and Innovation Foundation in Sweden, an independent funding agen- cy. The project has several co-financ- ing partners, including vehicle manu- facturers, insurance companies, end users, a transport agency and several suppliers of fire detection systems for vehicles. One part of the project aims to develop a new test method and pro- pose a standard for fire detection and fre alarm systems in heavy vehicles. Further, the project will investigate non-traditional methods such as pre- dictive failure modes for high risk com- ponents, facilitating the rapid identi- fication of pending failures to hoses and lines carrying fammable fuids or components that have greatly exceeded their operational parameters. Use of flammable material in high- risk areas The need for lighter, less costly ma- terials is always present ; but there are ver y f ew sta n da rd s a nd re gu lat io n s regarding the flammability and toxic fume production of such material. Fur- ther research is necessary to establish