Car Extinguisher

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BerettaNut92

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As part of your car kit, don't forget this little gem. Sure, not as fun as guns, but they're inexpensive and a good investment. I know this is borderline, some other 'survival' stuff has been posted here, but I'm only doing it because I care ;)

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Skunk, That really needs to be mounted in a bracket. People are killed each year by loose items in the cab of their vehicles, flying around in accidents. Often they would have survived otherwise.
 
ajacobs, usually the rear seat is folded down nestled right up against it, but I had to lift it to take the picture....
 
I keep 2 small ones in my van mounted next to the sliding doors. Pop the door open and it's right there at hand mounted on the pillar.

I also keep a larger one in the rear that can be grabbed when the hatch is opened.

Very cheap insurance.
 
A few points from a fire nut who has put out a few.

Whatever extinguisher you get, make sure your logistics budget ;) includes money for two or three so you can practice with them. A good test for me is a large old tire or worse yet a cardboard box with 5 gallons of diesel;/gas mix dumped on it. You can put something like that out with a handheld, but you better be good. If you have not actually put out a few fires with your chosen weapon I have no idea why you have a fire extinguisher, kinda like carrying a gun you never fired.
*Compliance with local smog laws, fire codes, nosy neighbors, and not blowing yourself up is your problem*

-Dry powder is an excellent improvised defense spray.

-Dry powder is also good for most auto fires with several caveats:

1. It offers no reflash protection as in the fuel is not separated from air or ignition source. The last car fire I almost put out I could hear the electric fuel pump running, feeding a severed fuel line that pumped fuel down the side of the hot engine and let it pool around an almost extinguished tire. I heard this right about the time my bottle ran dry. Next thing I heard as I was walking away in disgust were the tires exploding in the re-kindled blaze. Yep, it was a good one.

2. It's lack of heatsinkability renders it not so hot against solid combustibles like car carpet. It will knock the fire down but leave stuff smoldering to provide re-ignition sources.

3. Your car will be ruined. Save yourself and your stuff if safe to do so, but once you have hosed the car down with dry powder, it's junk. Very fine, very corrosive means death to all electronics.

I'm currently liking the Kidde fire-out foam extinguishers, not quite as much knockdown as a powder, but good on solids, good reflash protection. Ideally, have a dry powder to beat the blaze down and a foam to keep it there.

I also like Halon, still available, but buy them now, unlike the AW ban, it's not coming back due to EPA regulations.
 
I always like to keep an extinguisher in my vehicle. I have actually used a dry chemical extinguisher on a vehicle fire. It was the range golf cart. Seems the fuel line had a small leak and ignited. I ran to my vehicle, grabbed the old extinguisher and put out the fire. It did take almost the entire extinguisher, but it stopped the fire. I am a firm believer in preparedness.
 
I went through a lifetime of driving and never saw a burning car. Then in one year I saw two! It was no fun what-so-ever. Skunk and the rest of you are right. Don't leave home without one.
 
I don't know why, but we have quite a few auto fires on the freeways out here.
Here's a tip: When you spot a fire in the distance, bet with others in your vehicle that it's a German vehicle; you'll win about 5 out of 7 bets. Why? I dunno.
The most common: Volkswagen. Runner up: Mercedes,\.
Go figure.

:scrutiny:
 
Coupla questions.

1. How do cars burn, under the hood, or what? If burning in the hood, should i open the hood or just squirt at it?

I haven't seen many fires if at all, just seen too many movies where cars blow the heck up :D

2. If crew and passenger of vehicle are safe by roadside, should I render assistance or let the thing burn?

3. Where the heck do I practice putting out a fire?!?! It's a great idea but looking for a controlled environment.

4. If people are in the cabin and trapped and there's a fire, is this stuff safe to squirt if the person might take a little bit of it?
 
1. Yes, I've seen more than a couple where a fuel line melted through in the engine compartment and fire started while driving down the road. Accidents can be more unpredictable, gastanks can rupture, no hollweird car flying boom, but its ugly. More commonly fuel lines break, engine oil gets loose. Exploding tires spread the other flammables.

Open the hood, are you nuts? get singed skunk face. The one I wrote about the driver had popped the hood but the safety catch was on and unfamiliar to me, I attacked it through the small opening presented and the wheelwell where the fire concentrated due to the slope of the road. . I had gloves, and I stayed lower than the plane of the hood. Look for signs such as smoke from under hood (duh!), paint blistering, whatever. In addition to the engine compartment there is always the Trains, Planes scenario where someone tosses a cig butt in the backseat, or something they are carrying looked flammable.

2. We don neeed no steenkin water let the mutha burn! I rendered assistance because the family was poor and looked like most of their world was in that car and they were far from whatever was home. Stuff is replacable.

3. A large gravel parking lot with a consenting owner makes a good place, see local fire code disclaimer, learn to be an upwind skunk.

4. Yes, but... dry powder will leave people coughing, any discharge in a confined space and you can kiss visibility goodbye. Oh wait, what are you doing in a confined space without self contained air? I find it hard to think that you would come upon a situation where a fire was such that people could not get out but you could still be an assistant with a handheld. Do what you gatta to get out or save someone, just remember it is less than ideal.

I am not a firefighter, maybe for the second career. As the navy goes I am a rather advanced firefighter. That differs in that it is team tactics, systems knowledge, and very aggressive in that surround and drown civilian fire tactics do not work when you are already surrounded by something that is going to drown you. Get some rather fun training and real life opportunities though. Past that, being rural I've been party to a fair amount of industrial strength land clearing, trash removal and such. In my car racing I have learned some stuff too.

Fire, much like physical confrontation puts people in inactive shock. I have literally taken a handheld out of a fireman's hand that was just standing there and put out a fully involved car. Many others will panic especially when it is their stuff/ pet parakeet Hermie that is burning up. Someone wearing a well insulated firesuit tends to forget that and panic too when their fuel soaked legs are on fire. Maybe you can't stop the fire, but you can keep one of those people from doing something really dumb. If there are things to do, put them to work at crowd control, moving burnables away, wetting down surrounding structures. Less panic happens when someone is giving orders and the panicky one has something to do. Make sure you are not paniced and giving dumb orders though.

More thoughts.
-If you can't jump, your hotel or apartment/condo room is too high.
-If you work in something too high to jump from, have two good flashlights, two emergency breathing devices, and a plan at the minimum.
-let it burn, nobody goes back in.
-catch it early if you can.
 
I will second and third everything Navy Joe said. Being in the Fire Dept. and Rescue Squad the only reason I carry a fire ext. is if I roll up on a wreck and need it to get a victim out. I have seen us dump 500 gallons on car fires before and not be able to get it put out.

One thing about dry chem extinguishers. Before you use one bump it HARD on the pavement. After so long riding in one position the dry powder clumps so you have to get it back into a non solid form.

Skunk, as far as how to use a extinguisher try calling the local fire dept or emergency mangament. They can usually tell you if there are local classes using fire extinguishers. Also they usually provide the fire extinguishers and all the other stuff.
 
Yes, Billy, kinda forgot that point, I usually roll mine upside down when I grab it to loosen the powder. Also, before I get to the fire a "test agent" in naval parlance, just a quick squeeze to make sure the thing is functioning. nothing like getting up to where thing is warm and finding out fire extinguisher no worky.
 
Having owned 5 aircooled VW's (down to one now) I know firsthand the merits of having a large ABC type fire extinguisher located very close at hand to the driver's seat. The last mobile hibachi was my '72 Westfalia, which nearly got away from me because of the electric fuel pump which kept merrily pouring raw gas into the fire on top of the engine until mercifully it burned through the rear wiring harness. By that time it was gloriously ablaze in a rolling rendition of the Texas Aggie bonfire. By that time I had managed to bring it to a slow roll and pried open the decklid. It's amazing what a mess you can make when you combine dry powder fire extinguisher residue with hot motor oil.

Now there's a 10 lb extinguisher in both the Suburban and my Suzuki truck.

Happy Barbequing.

Regards,
Rabbit.

Ye thought! Ye are not paid to think. - Rudyard Kipling.
 
My friend has an old VW and is the only one who doesn't think I'm crazy for having a car extinguisher. His rear car seat sank onto the battery and shorted it out and caused a fire.
 
I currently keep one in the truck, but about 10 years ago I had an S-10 and the extinguisher was in the back. Going down the high-way it broke loose rolling around and got jammed under some junk and fully discharged. It wouldn't have been too bad but it was rush hour. I look in my rearview and see I'm making a yellow cloud. I quickly exited and took back roads home.
 
Former fire-rescue here. I used to teach fire prevention and such to the public. Thought I would help out a little with the extinguisher training.

Try stopping by, or calling your local fire department and ask them about information on fire extinguishers and if they can offer you extinguisher training. There are a lot of fire departments out there that give extinguisher training to the public. We used to do it, plus I taught extinguishers to workers at a steel mill during their safety meetings.

We constructed a metal splash pan to use when teaching extinguishers to the public. The pan was about 4ft X 4ft and was about two inches deep. We would fill it up with water then poor a little bit of gasoline on top of the water and light it. We would have the students take the extinguisher and use what they learned in class to put out the fire. I have also seen others use old 55 gallon drums that have been cut down to make them about about 2-5" deep.

Here is a little bit of the information we used in the extinguisher classes.

WHEN USING A FIRE EXTINGUISHER, REMEBER THE WORD PASS

PULL... AIM... SQUEEZE... SWEEP...

1. PULL... Pull the pin. Some extinguishers require releasing a lock latch, pressing a puncture lever or other motion.

2. AIM... Aim low, pointing the extinguisher nozzle (or it's horn or hose) at the base of the fire.

3. SQUEEZE... Squeeze the handle. This releases the extinguishing agent.

4. SWEEP... Sweep from side to side at the base of the fire until it appears to be out. Watch the fire area in case fire breaks out again, and repeat use of extinguisher if necessary.
 
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