Fire Extinguishers

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Forgive me for getting on my soap box and ranting yet again about fire extinguishers.

After reading about the 845 sedan owned by Jerry Bertram in Indiana, who’s car burnt up after an apparent gas leak caught fire over the gas tank.

OK, here’s the problem with most of the fire extinguishers we carry in our cars, the are a dry chemical that is a non buring powder that is sprayed to cover the fire like a blanket, smothering the fuel for the fire.

But first you must be able to spray the powder directly on the fuel [whatever is burning] and be able to completely cover the burning surface, so the powder can block oxygen to the fire.

So a dry powder will work on a flat surface, that you have easy access to, but think about accessing the top of a fuel tank that is burning, tucked up under the body, it just isn’t going to happen.

I work in the aviation industry, and aircraft are NOT legal to use dry chemical extinguishers, the FAA only approves HALON type extinguishes.

The reason is that Halon only needs to be sprayed at or near the fire to be effective, the air being drawn to the fire will bring the Halon to the fire, and it will be starved for oxygen.

In an airplane or airliner, accessing a fire directly is very difficult or usually impossible, so the Halon is the only approved device. We are trained to simply flood the area around the fire, or spray the Halon into the ductwork, wiring compartment, baggage bin etc, and let the fire draw the Halon to itself, and the fire will go out.

If there is smoltering hot ashes, like burning wood, then the fire CAN reignite, so we are trained to soak any fire area with liquids to put out any small embers that could reignite.

Halon replaces the oxygen in the air, depriving the fire of what it needs to burn, just like the dry chemical trys to smother the fire with a blanket of powder, the halon surrounds the fire with oxygen-depleated air, so the fire is chemically smothered or deprived of oxygen.

Halon extinguishers are not easy to find nor are they cheap, but the work so well that they are worth the cost and effort to find and buy.

Maybe someone can post links to sources for these vital Halon extinquishers.

I ONLY have Halon in my cars. It’s worth the expense.

I hope this message will start a good discussion on the merits of this type of extinguisher and generate sources for us to be able to buy these at a reasonable price. I think the drag racing industry uses Halon, My extinquishers are old home units that have survived for decades, and still are good, but I’d like to buy extras.

Greg Long

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