Fire Extinquisher?

[KJZ28]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

Bought one out of a military supply truck, a little bigger then the ones you find in a lot of muscle cars. Supposedly it is better than commercial stuff. But that is what I was told. Looks cool being OD Green.

[HEMI]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

Thanks to all who responded with you story's,and a BIG thanks to Keith for setting up the poll.Glad to see the positive results.
When I'm welding,I keep 2 handy.Let's all try to make our home work areas as safe as we try to make our vehicles.

[std]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

There are several around the shop, a few in the truck and trailer, and suprisingly none at home. I'll have to fix that soon.

[Mr.WFO]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

even though I have 1 in the car I still usually put my fires out with the waterhose.

[Leon]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

When you mount a fire extinguisher in the shop or house, put it near the door so you don't have to go further into the building to get it, you want to grab it on the way out. That way if the fire gets too big too fast, you're on your way out of the building to grab it. You don't want to get trapped inside trying to get to the extinguisher.

[dieselgeek]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

When my neighbor's shop went up in flames about 4 years ago, I got anal about fire suppression. The local FD is all volunteer, the closest fully staffed FD is about 20 miles away. So it's up to us, out in the country, to think about fire saffety.


In my shop, I have one on every post. I buy the expensive rechargeable units, that have a gauge telling you if they have pressure or not. A mix of foam, powder, etc. for electrical fires, and chemical. I think I have 12 of them in a 35 x 50 shop. I know I can't fight any REAL fire, but if I can put a small one out before it becomes a big one ... I also make sure someone has one in hand before we start any new EFI engine up. People *always* seem to have fuel leaks the first time the pump comes on.

[Monster]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

Got one in the house, but not the car (yet).

[Leon]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

If you are building a new shop, one thing to consider is a sprinkler system. I did the work myself and put one in for under $500 for a 2500 Sq Ft building. It also got me cheaper rates on my insurance.

[dustergirl]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

I insisted on one in the garage, and one in each car. We just used one last month, the heater box on my Duster was packed with leaves and the leaves ignited when we turned the heater on. Scary thing was we couldn't get to the source of the fire. We pushed the car outside (on fire) and had to pull out the glove box to gain access. Took a good 5 minutes before we could finally get an extinguisher in there and blow it off, by which time the fire was hot and spreading. I thought we were gonna lose the car. Scary stuff!

[squirrel]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

We had a brush/wood fire on the edge of the property this summer, fortunately downwind of the shop, FD put it out. That does get your attention though!

[Mopar Jim]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

I can't afford to replace 'em, so I have to take care of 'em. I keep fire extinguishers, extra oil, water and anti-freeze, basic tools, and fuel additives in a travel kit in the old cars at all times so I hopefully can avoid having problems while out on the road.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

Several years ago I had an electrical fire under the air filter housing of my Firebird (harness melted on the exhaust cross over and shorted) wish I had an extinguisher then. I got real lucky on that one. I lost all electrical on the freeway (at night no less), coasted off the freeway and coasted into a parking lot, popped the hood and saw a small flame right next to the carb! I was able to fan it out (not the brightest idea, but it appeared to work and did). Once the flame was out I popped the air lid off for a better look, grabbed the harness and poof instantly an open flame again! and to make matters worse the carb intake/vent was fully exposed. I was able to fan that one out too, then I was smart enough to disconnect the battery before my next look. :P Still didn't get a fire extinguisher....

But I guess I'm getting a bit smarter now, I bought one last week for the drive home (500miles) in an un-road tested car. So now I got one in one car, two to go and probably three for the house....

[chad786]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

For those of you who don't know it....

The Hot Rod Magazine Special was Burned in a fire and was rebuilt to become that car...i

K

Since that happened I roll the car out of the garage before firing
the engine. Even with 15 lbs halon on board 5 halon, 2.5 CO2
and misc chemical still learned from your experience.
chad786

[SpeedZealot]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

I put out a fire for a tool without one at the track, didn't even get barely a thanks. I did look like a hero putting it out on tv though. I always have a fire extinguisher handy.

[VWMMP]

Re: Fire Extinquisher?

I have 2 in the garage (10 pound/20 pound) and 1 in the house (5 pound) plus the onboard system in the truck. My son is a firefighter and has them checked twice a year. He has been on too many calls where someone has an extinguisher that they never had checked out and it did not work.

If you have never used one to actually put out a fire I would suggest finding a 1 hour class where they teach you to use one. Several companies around me do these for busineses and the local fire department hosts a class using your own exinguisher. The class my company had me take was on putting out a gas/oil fire. It was well worth the time and very appropriate to the type of fire I might see with the hot rod.