Fire Extinguishers?

What fire extinguisher do you carry in your car? I have the one from my garage in the wagon right now and none in any of the other cars and I really need to do better before it all catches up with me.

I only ever had one in my track car. But speaking of extinguishers, I need to get at least one more for the garage.

Career firefigher here.

I carry a small ABC dry chem in the 911, but not in any of my other vehicles.

I like the foam extinguishers for the garage. Foam is good for containing vapors from spilled or burning fuels.

If you can find one, CO2 extinguishers are nice for inside the house, since they're safe for electrically charged appliances and there's nothing to clean up. They are heavy and expensive, though.

Any opinions on the ones that look like a large aerosol can?
The 911 is the car I really need one in. The idea of standing by and watching it burn sort of bothers me. Considering the extend of previous fire damage, I vote the wagon as most likely to catch fire again, which is why there is an extinguisher in there now.

You want the largest ABC rated extinguisher possible. You don't have to use it all, but you may need to.

I keep small (maybe 12" long?) ABC types in the Mini and GT6. Having a fire extinguisher on board is sometimes required at classic car shows.

The GT6 (and Spitfire I had before it) has a nice spot between a frame rail and the passenger seat where it can be out of the way and not move around, but is easily accessible.

I need to figure out a home for the one in the Mini... it rolls around all over the rear passenger area and eventually ends up under the back seat.

You really want them solidly mounted in a car. Loose on the floor is probably worse than a fire.

5lb ABC type in the RX7. Metal double-strap mount bolted to the floor. You don't want these things to become projectiles.

Woody wrote: You really want them solidly mounted in a car. Loose on the floor is probably worse than a fire.

Yeah wait until it gets knocked around and hits a sharp corner, popping a hole in it. Suddenly you'll bask in a shower of fire retardent as it spews all over the car's interior. Then, because you got the stuff in your eyes and can't see where you're going, you drive off the road and roll the car, and the still-spewing extinguisher clocks you in the head at-speed.

Woody, why an ABC vs. Halon-type in the 911?

I am required to have them in the work cars, the CMC car has a full 4 point extinguisher, one in Mongo and a couple of spares.

I have had to use them on other peoples cars a couple of times.

I carry a disposable ABC-type, maybe 1.5ftx5" (don't remember the capacity) in the Samurai on rallies. Recently they were mandated, good thing I had it.

I have a small BC-type that I take to the track, I'll get it mounted in the Corolla sometime soon.

Woody wrote: Career firefigher here. I carry a small ABC dry chem in the 911, but not in any of my other vehicles. I like the foam extinguishers for the garage. Foam is good for containing vapors from spilled or burning fuels. If you can find one, CO2 extinguishers are nice for inside the house, since they're safe for electrically charged appliances and there's nothing to clean up. They are heavy and expensive, though.

FYI. Badger and kidde are owned by utc out of hartford. Semi local.

Woody wrote: You really want them solidly mounted in a car. Loose on the floor is probably worse than a fire.

I had a 10lb one rolling around in the back of the GTI. It was always one of those hit a bump and "oh yeah I really should do something about that" kinda things.....Until one day I made a panic stop and the cabin filled with that all too familiar tasting cloud of ABC dust. Instant loss of visibility and it caused quite a stir with traffic thinking my car was about to explode into flames. It took a while before I was able to convince helpful citizens that it was not smoke and was in fact a fire extinguisher and that them emptying theirs into my car was only going to make things worse

That is my cautionary tale of unsecured extinguishers.

David S. Wallens wrote: Woody, why an ABC vs. Halon-type in the 911?

+1... would be nice to hear about ABC vs BC vs "Halon" vs CO2.

I carry a small BC extinguisher in my Datsun secured with a strap to the passenger seat bracket. I figure its better than nothing.

so, woody, since youre a career guy, can you make me some reccomendadtions?

i need a couple of them for the shop, and one for each car: neon, duster, elky, subaru.

which brand, what size, and what type?

michael

I keep one of the little 2.5lb kitchen ones in the trunk inside the milk crate with my tools and oil and whtatnot in every car I own.

I've got three in my shop, one in the race trailer, one in the Abomination, one in the boat, one in the kitchen, and one in the front garage. I don't carry any in the other cars, though as old as they are, I probably should.

For those that asked: http://www.fire-extinguisher101.com/

David S. Wallens wrote: Woody, why an ABC vs. Halon-type in the 911?

While Halon has excellent extinguishing properties, it has been found to be damaging to the ozone layer. I believe that it is no longer legal to produce or import Halon into the United States, though it is not illegal to use existing extinguishers and recycled Halon is available, though the cost has increased accordingly.

What about the Halon replacements that I have heard about? Are they as good as old-fashion Halon? Or is ABC the best replacement? And this sounds like great fodder for an article.

kb58 wrote:

Woody wrote: You really want them solidly mounted in a car. Loose on the floor is probably worse than a fire.

Yeah wait until it gets knocked around and hits a sharp corner, popping a hole in it. Suddenly you'll bask in a shower of fire retardent as it spews all over the car's interior. Then, because you got the stuff in your eyes and can't see where you're going, you drive off the road and roll the car, and the still-spewing extinguisher clocks you in the head at-speed.

I have a hand held Halon mounted to the floor in front of the seat from this company: https://www.safecraft.com/products.php?category=25&master_cat=motorsports There products certainly aren't cheap but are nicely made. I have been told that the powder in the ABC type extingushers is very corrosive and will pretty much ruin wiring and anything else a fire doesn't. I do have three 5lb ABC's in my shop and home placed so they can easily be reached.

Not sure this is good advise or not but my wife's business has fire inspections and a fire extingusher company that services the units. They mostly just replace the units instead of refilling. One of the service guys told me that in his opinon as long as the gauge still reads "Full" or in the green the extingusher is good. He offered to sell those expired units at half price. Again not sure buying one would be good advise. Your milage may vary!

care to share a link ... I could be talked into additional extinguishers ... especially at half price

In my race car I switched from dry chemical ABC to Halotron 1 last year because of the non-corrosive advantage of Halotron over dry chem. I use the Amerex 2.5 pound net model. The size is based on the rules for my race body. If there is a disadvantage to the Halotron (and Halon) it is that is has almost no effect on Class A fires. Halotron 1 is also rated at about half the BC of Halon 1211 per pound of liquid but is much more environmentally friendly.

I made the switch primarily after seeing the damage to electronics and aluminum of dry chemical (mono ammonium phosphate) after sitting in contact with it for only a short time. Dry chem also has a nasty habit of compacting in the extinguisher over time and if the extinguisher is not periodically "agitated" to loosen it up, when it is needed one may only get the propellant gas in the tank and little or no chemical.

One more thing. This car runs in a hillclimb series where one is almost always in sight of a checkpoint with volunteers and big-ass ABC dry chem extinguishers. So if I cant get a fire out with my Halotron by the time they arrive, the heck with corrosion issues, hit it boys (or girls).

OK one more more thing... From the Halotron 1 MSDS: "Decomposition products are hazardous. This material can be decomposed by high temperatures (open flames, glowing metal surfaces, etc.) forming hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids, and possibly carbonyl halide.". I have no idea how those byproducts equate to "non-corrosive" except maybe in the open they disperse quickly. Certainly not the kind of stuff I would want to breathe or have trapped in a close space.

I have 5 pound ABC units in the trunk of the Mercedes and mounted to the toolbox in the Trooper. Overkill? Maybe, but I'd hate to see something burn to the ground.

The Trooper also has a sticker on the outside pointing to the extinguisher and the (extensive) first aid kit–I want the people spotting me to know where my emergency supplies are in case I'm the one in need of help.

In my E30, I just had a little (2 pound?) halon extinguisher. It wouldn't have helped much, but it was all I really had space for. What's better?–a 10 pound extinguisher at home, or a 2 pound one in your trunk.

If you hadn't noticed, I'm a big fan of fire extinguishers. They are spectacularly cheap insurance against a car burning to the ground.