Fire extinguishers

Quick question from a lurker on this board. Does anyone have any recommendation on a hand held fire extinguisher?

South Florida got soaked today and on the way to work I started smelling burnt wires which almost gave me a heart attack. Got to work, checked everything and nothing seemed amiss. Now I want to get a fire extinguisher as it seems like a good idea in case this happens again.

Thanks for the input,

J

I have an Amerex 5lb bottle in my track rat. They make nice metal brackets for their bottles so you don't have to worry about them coming at your head in a crash.

In reply to DaveEstey:

Thanks Dave.

Any good online websites to purchase one from? I checked saferacer.com but could not find any simple hand held ones.

J

ioport carries them

I'm a career firefighter, so I use extinguishers all the time.

Most of the extinguishers that people carry in their cars are 2.5 pound Dry Chem's. They do a good job, but they make a huge mess. You'll never get it all cleaned up. Of course, an uncontained fire makes an even bigger mess. That being said, that's what I usually carry in my own cars.

I have several in my garage, but most notably is a 2 liter Kidde ABC Foam extinguisher. It would be my go-to choice for a small fire in the garage or house. I think I got mine at Home Depot. The bigger, the better.

My preferred choice for anything electrical or liquid fuel, would be a CO2 extinguisher. They are the ones that have the plastic cone on them and fog up the area when you use them. They work very well and make ZERO mess, as the CO2 just dissipates. The problem with them is that they are very heavy and expensive. They're not what you want for a wood, paper or trash fire.

CO2: http://ehs.sc.edu/modules/Fire/05_co2.htm

1 in the garage, and one in the kitchen. Works for electric, solid and liquid fueled fires, and supposedly has a spray duration of at least 33 seconds. You got me thinking I need one in the DD too. Can be found at big box home improvement stores.

I have a 10 abc extinguisher. It may be overkill, but I'd rather have that than have it run out and it will put out any fire I come across. (I don't have many flamible metals in my car)

For the car I have a 5lb halon extinguisher. No mess. Not cheap, but it won't corrode exposed metal like a dry chem. I've also heard stories from the aviation community about CO2 extinguisher harming wiring due to a rapid freezing. No idea if this is true or not. OH Racing carries them, and yes, I worked there onceupon a time.

For the car I have a 5lb halon extinguisher. No mess. Not cheap, but it won't corrode exposed metal like a dry chem. I've also heard stories from the aviation community about CO2 extinguisher harming wiring due to a rapid freezing. No idea if this is true or not. OG Racing carries them, and yes, I worked there onceupon a time.

I've kept one in my DD (as well as one in the kitchen, and garage) since my first VW bug in 1981! " Nothing speaks louder than the voice of experience!"

Nothing says fun like watching a fire burn while your little extinguisher puffs out its last tiny breath. I do not like little extinguishers because of that. Give me at least a 5 pound can.

Equally, what's more important, getting the fire out, or dealing with a mess afterwards? Maybe because of my years fighting fires and living through a number of them, I want the fire out. So CO2, halon and such are not the extinguisher of my first choice. I want dry powder or foam. Yea, they are a mess. Yea, they do corrode, if you leave it sitting long enough. But they don't blow away in a breeze either.

But I don't want monster big cans either. Recently had to deal with a fire in a house, and he had massive old powder extinguishers. Just about ruptured myself hauling it down into the basement. This house was owned by two elderly people, neither of them could have wrestled their extinguisher themselves. So don't get one too big to get out, or too big to handle.

In fact I'll add one more thing to extinguishers. Get 2 or 3, and practice with one. Start a fire, get it blazing, and actually put it out with an extinguisher like you have in the car. They aren't always so easy to use, and you need to know how to actually use it.