Welcome to a very interesting Forum where high jinks are mixed with top expertise related to cars all the way to complete construction of street rods. I have many times done a chemistry demonstration of burning pure magnesium ribbon which is easily lit with just a match and I believe underwater flares are mainly burning magnesium, so I wonder if you have ever seen an engine fire of a VW beetle or a "Mag wheel"? I suppose most "Mag" alloy products are alloyed with aluminum which is harder to light. Still wasn't there a case of an aluminum superstructure of a British ship set on fire in the Falklands war several years ago? I guess what I am asking is whether a rubber fire from a tire could "light" a "Mag wheel"? If so there would be a very bright white light. I have seen engine fires here in the East on I95 in VW beetles, but the smoke obscured whether it was just oil or maybe the engine case lit up. Just asking for some interesting auto fire stories. Maybe there is usually enough Al with the Mg to just melt the alloy as you have shown. On the East Coast we seem to get enough extra rain to put out the California brush fires, what we need is some sort of a very long pipe, but the Rockies look like a very big hump (not to mention the Blue Ridge)!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder