It's probably clear that you don't leave pets and children in the car, but what about a bottle of water? An example faced by American firefighters explains why.
Leaving water bottles in your car on hot summer days is a really bad idea - not just because you're supposed to get into the water. released chemicals from the plastic when heated. A bottle of water can cause a fire, if the sun's rays hit it at the right angle.
If you don't believe it, ask Dioni Amuchastegui, who experienced it firsthand. During the lunch break, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that his seat was smoking and that it had started to burn and that through the bottle of water, light refracts onto the city, from where it started to smoke. Dioni did the test again and filmed it to warn people about the dangers of leaving bottles in a hot car. When he placed the thermometer next to the bottle of water through which the sun's rays cut, it read slightly more than 100 degrees Celsius.
Firefighters in Oklahoma also conducted the test and came to the conclusion that it is the risk of fire is still real. "Plastic starts to burn at 235 degrees Celsius, so under the right conditions - the way the sun's beam was positioned - a fire would quickly break out," adds David Richardson from the Oklahoma Fire Brigade.
