ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Safety News and Product Recalls Fire Extinguishers?

Off topic a little, but you may not have seen this one.





[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 04-06-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Bill Addiss (edited 04-07-2003).]

Bill,
It looks as though there's not even an overflow on that poor excuse for a cylinder.
The power connection leaves a lot to be desired.
Bjarney,
I bet the owner of that BMW is going to be p-ed off, when they return to it.
Do you guys have a law in the US, about parking too close to Fire Hydrants?

Funny how a common item such as a fire extinguisher can become such a background item until you really need it. When training on fire extinguishers I always ask how many people have actually used one. I typically get about 25% response. People rarely believe me when I tell them a full 20lb extinguisher will only last about 20 seconds. There is a perception out there that it will last until the fire is out! Train to the pass acronym. P.A.S.S.
P- Pull the pin, A- Aim at the base of the fire not the flames, S- Squeeze the handle, S-Sweep across the base of the flames in a back and forth motion. Basic stuff, but surprising how few have had the opportunity to actually put one of these devices to use and use it properly. Halon? We have found that some folks have stored them out of sight for that day their computer equipment catches on fire, but not a good idea if it's not serviced regularly. There are a few halon substitutes out there that are being used in electronics applications.

In the State of New Jersey, as of 1999, the fine for improper parking within 10 feet of fire hydrant was US$44.

From what I've heard, the "through the car windows" method is quite common.

When I worked at the radio shop on the airport, we had a customer that had some trouble getting his little airplane started. It kicked back through the carburetor and caught the fuel in the intake manifold on fire, and the fabric fresh air hose to the carb started burning. The smoke, started coming out of the cowling air holes, so that is where he emptied his dry chemical extinguisher, despite my yells not to. Ever see what that dry chemical can do to aluminum when it gets wet? A half second blast of halon, (this was back in the 80's) up the bottom of the cowling and it was all over. It cost the guy two days wages to get his engine comptartment cleaned out before he could leave.

Personally I think it was silly to outlaw halon for fire extinguishing purposes. How much did they use in one year that way? Not much I'll bet.

TW

Trumpy,
Yes, it's illegal to park too close to a hydrant in the U.S. They often have a red-painted section of curb to mark the zone. No such restrictions in England as the hydrants are located under the road below covers which are located either in the sidewalk or closer to the middle of the road.

Whereabouts was this pic taken BJ? Looks like California license plates on that car.

The fire extinguisher/heater is, er, interesting. I assume the Victoria referred to here is Vic., Australia, as it looks like Australian plugs.

The BMW/Fire-Hose picture was found at: http://www.geocities.com/belfryfire_ems/pics.html but have seen it posted in other places. And yes, they are definitely California plates.

The image has been widely circulated on the 'net. By usual protocol, the vehicle should have been towed and impounded with a hefty fine, but I guess one firefighter felt that a more succinct approach was due.

The excuse by the car owner was probably something like, "But my daughter was late for her soccer game! How was I to know that the fire hydrant would be needed in the next hour? I'd been parking there every day for the last six weeks and it was never a problem before now!"




[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 04-07-2003).]

In response to the picture of the hapless BMW, If the FD has the large Dia hose and the bypass valves (the red one on the other outlet of the hydrant) out, they've got something going that aint' agonna wait for a tow truck. I 've seen this done before, mostly in pictures out of NYC.

The bypass valves let them hook a hose directly to the hydrant to start fighting the fire, while the pumper sets up. Then the pumper can hook onto the hydrant, the valve switched and the original hose taken off and hooked to the pumper for added pressure.

Am I the only one that feels a perverse sense of justice here? The only thing that would make it better would be to have water spilling out over the window sills.

TW

I guess the idea of passing the hose through the window of the illegaly parked car was to get the straightest path possible for the hose.

Running it around the car or over the car would have kinked it. I don't think you want any kinks when you're dealing with pressure that high!!!

The driver of the car will think twice next time he parks in front of a fireplug.

Re Halon: Doesn't it surprise you that all the effective stuff either gets outlawed or discontinued? Hmmm....