Use care next time you pass a car fire. http://www.firecamera.com/index.cfm?Section=4&pagenum=240&titles=0

Pass a car fire? I will probably make every 'professional firefighter' cringe when I say this ... but I have never PASSED a car fire.

I have, on a number of occasions, stopped to put one out. One was even the car I was driving.

There are three attitudes that I deplore. "It's insured" seems a handy excuse for failing to take the most basic actions to reduce your loss. "It's someone else's job" (like the fire brigade) is just lame - we are still responsible for ourselves and what's ours. Then there is that basic laziness that results in a lack of preparedness for the most minor problems.

A really decent, capable ABC extinguisher costs less than $20. Every big fire starts as a small one. It is inexcusable that a fire is allowed to 'stew and brew' for any length of time, to grow into a monster.

Unless, of course, it's your ambition to have the world enjoy your misfortune, courtesy of YouTube.

This makes me glad that our fire department SOP is that EVERY LANE OF TRAFFIC STOPS (irregardless of whether it is a divided highway or not) until the fire is completely out. NOBODY'S destination is important enough for us to allow that kind of chance to be taken.

Mike (mamills)

I imagine the guy in the truck right there at the end had to stop and change his shorts.

Years ago, driving south out of Boston on the Southeast Expressway, I passed a car with it's hood up and engine on fire. The car had pulled off in one of the breakdown spaces provided, and I passed by about two lanes to the left. Traffic was fast-moving and heavy, and I was on top of the fire before I realized it existed. I was convinced that the explosion would blow the hood off, right at me. It never occurred to me that the flames could sweep out across three or four lanes! This is the sort of thing that I'd always check The Boston Globe for the next day, and never find anything written about it.

Well, It is the "Boston globe", Ya don't think they'll tell ya anything you need to know anyhow. Do ya!?

I guess not. They did seem awfully blase about metro area vehicle accidents. On the other hand, they had/have two comic pages!

Most city folk are blaze about metro area traffic accidents.
It amazes me when I see two people who swapped a little paint standing around their cars waiting for the cops to arrive. In DC the rule is, if the cop gets out of his car, everyone is getting a ticket, even if you were just watching. They are not interested unless someone needs the "jaws of life" to get to the hospital. Otherwise, deal with it yourself. That is not an unreasonable take, now that everyone has a cell phone.

Have a slight prang here and the gendarmes are only too pleased to help, filling in the mandatory accident forms, giving you the name of their Uncle's garage etc..
That's probably because they have nothing to do all day!
I expect that's true in any rural location except the UK, where the cops nick everyone so they can earn points!
As to stopping to help, I'm no fire officer and tackling a gasoline fire with a $20 fire-extinguisher on a three-lane highway is not for me!

A mate once stopped to help a 'little old lady' who had fallen over at Milan airport. She took off like a bloody olympic sprinter after her accomplice stole his briefcase while he was distracted!

I remember going past a car on fire on the bus to school one morning, about 30 years ago (just outside Harpenden on the old A6, for Brit readers). The fire had taken hold pretty well, and the one thing which really sticks in my mind after all these years is the blast of heat I felt, even from the opposite side of the road and through the window of the bus.

Mike,

Good idea, but around here closing the other side of a divided highway would most likely result in you and your crew being hauled away in cuffs by the state police.
Don

Wow, Don! Around here in DC, even a flat tire on the shoulder justifies a lane closure.

Our problem in these parts is that even a car that's simply overheating is reported by the traffic reporters as a "car fire", causing everyone to go into panic rubber-necking mode. Full fire/rescue response usually follows, what a total waste of valuable resources. Hence, our fabulous traffic up and down I-95.

That's the beltway, not downtown

IN Boston, We "RUBBER NECK" (OF COURSE) but we drive around the body and flip the bird (and curse) to th jack a** who had the nerve to screw up our commute.
We make sure to toot our horn so they know we're talking to them.

Wow,
I've never seen a gas tank go off like that before and I've assisted to extinguish more than a few car fires.
It makes me wonder if the gas tank didn't have a bad weld on it as gas tank ruptures are pretty rare.
All the more reason to park your fire engine well back from a burning car.
Just a note about fire extinguishers, every vehicle and home should have one, as John mentioned above, all fires start small, bear in mind that fire extinguishers have a pretty limited output time, measured in seconds, not minutes, any attack on a fire needs to be quick and effective from the start.

How many people really know how to use a fire extinguisher properly even if they had one available? Most people I know would aim at the flame instead of the base of the fire where the problem is.

The government agency I work for has put small 2 1/2 ABC extinguishers in the company vehicles for the 30 years I have been there but there have never been any training courses on how to use one properly. I take a car out once once or twice a month for an hour or two but we have on call people taking a vehicle home every night.

My neighbour on the other hand had to go on a manditory course on how to use one before they let him drive a company vehicle. Even our fire department traing devision does not promote traning and they have a half million dollar training center for this.

stand 6-8 feet back and aim at the base of the fire,Empty the extiguisher.
The distance is crucial, too close and the 300-800PSI will assuredly blow the fire to a new location, then your in deep doo-doo.

ABC is best, makes a bit of a mess,co2 not recommended for electric fires, It is very conductive.

CO2 is the original "electric fire" extinguisher. I suspect you were thinking of something else.

Nope. Pressurised liquid and very conductive.
And at 800 PSI nominal (in the hand held), can creat some static as well. thats why when inspected you make sure there is continuity between the tank and that plastic handle (that has a bond wire in it).

=CO2 extinguishers have an advantage over dry chemical extinguishers since they don't leave a harmful residue - a good choice for an electrical fire on a computer or other favorite electronic device such as a stereo or TV.=

True, but in a live switch gear. No.

Please explain the "C" symbol on CO2 extinguishers. That's supposed to mean "OK for electrical fires"

Everything I can find indicates that CO2 is non-conductive, and recomended for electrical fires at all voltage levels. It is stored in liquid form, but discharged in gaseous form.

ABC indicates the type of fires that the extinguisher can be used to extinguish, not the specific agent.

C indicates that the agent is non-conductive, and suitable for electrical fires.

CO2 is rated BC, for flamable liquids and electrical fires.

You may be thinking of class K extinguishers, which are specially formulated for kitchen grease fires, but the agent may be conductive.

Here's a link, for a UL listed CO2 extinguisher. Please note it has a "C" rating: http://www.marylandfire.com/miva/me...mp;Product_Code=322&Category_Code=FE

OK--OK--OK--- Ouch, I may be wrong. You guys have put out very strong points.
My Training from some pros' have told me this, against the obviouse. Again with the hear say.
I will do some more research. Perhaps the fact of the static conductivity I have become confused.

UNCLE!!! Leme up!!!.
Never afraid to admit my wrong. But an industry can't be wrong.

To do much more than out out an electrical fire CO2 has to be huge. Something you roll, not something you carry. If you have a significant fuel load like A and B fires you pretty much have to flood the flame with CO2 and smother the fire, along with the normal cooling you get with CO2.
Back in the real olden days we had computer rooms with CO2 flooding systems (AEC in Germantown had one) but I was never sure if this was fire protection or intruder control.

The Navy taught us to keep the CO2 extinguisher on the ground to avoid it generating a spark of static electricity. Not good if you've almost got the flamable liquid/gas fire out....

Also known as a class "F" extinguisher in Australia. Class "F" is called wet chemical. The extinguisher is red with a wheat colour band across the centre of the body ( used to be all wheat coloured)

In earlier posts it was touched on about the use of a extinguisher, remember the saying "PASS"? P,Pull the pin, A, Aim at the base of the fire, S, Squeeze the trigger, S, Sweep at the base of the fire.

leland,
If what you say is true, why do all CO2 extinguishers have a Class C rating? The following is from this site.

Don

I was in our computer room at work for a few hours this morning and I noticed that all the Co2 extinguishers have been replaced with misting water extinguishers (in addition to the FM100 suppression and dry pipe sprinklers). If we ever have a fire it appears we will either gas and flood the room to put it out depending on which trips first.

This extinguishers have a special deionized water charge and are rated class AC because of the misting head. The mist keeps any electrical current from coming back to the user.

These are the units we now have http://www.amerex-fire.com/Literature/wmist.pdf

So i am wrong. I still have not seen them in electric rms other than portables.
I have been duley "spanked".
In the true election year spirit.. I will maintain that I have been misunderstood and misquoted!
It was a botched joke.. etc...etc..

The only real electrical settings where I have seen "total flood" applications are in some Transformers and turbines.Non habitable enclosures.

mbhydro: The FM-200 is the replacement for the Halon,(Made in MO.) since you cannot alter or install halon any longer. The good news is the FM breaks down in only 12 mil. yrs instead of the halons 15 mil.

Additionaly, watermist is becomeing a very popular form of suppression. It cools and smothers the fire at once. The water is atomized so very little is needed. Very cool system.This also is used in some gas turbines.

Actually there is no extinguishing agent that puts out electrical fires...there is only one way to do that...stop the flow of current. The Class C extinguishers only put out the material that the electrical fire has ignited. All the Class C rating means is that the agent is not conductive.
Don

Oddly enough guys,
When the electrical cabling and switchgear that fed the Glenbrook steel mill caught fire over here back in the early '90's, the initial fire-fighting effort by workers at the place caused a lot of equipment to be junked.
The reason being old BCF (Bi-carbonate foam) extinguishers that were used caused the electrical gear to corrode beyond recognition, Dry powder also has this effect.
Personally, I would use C02 as my preferred extinguisher for most types of fire, where not given any other choice, C02 in an extinguisher has better "knock-down" properties than any other extinguisher of it's size, you just have to know how to place the agent well.
But bear in mind, an extinguisher of any type is meant for a small fire, if the fire you are fighting grows larger, get the hell out of it's way and never, but never, let the fire get between you and your means of exit!
Just my $0.02 worth.

Some good info and some inaccurate info.
Class A is wood, paper, ordinary combustables
Class B is flammable liqueds
Class C is energized electrical fires.
Class D is burning metals.

A dry chemical, halon, halotron fire extinguisher is pressurized between 100 PSI and 195 PSI. A water fire extinguisher is pressurized between 100 PSI and 150 PSI. A CO 2 is pressurized to 700 PSI, bu the "snow" comes out at a low pressure. However, it you take the hose off, and discharge the CO2 extinguisher, you will realize there is a lot of pressure in the tank. The hose has a wire braid under the rubber cover. The wire braid conducts static electricity to the tank. If the wire braid is comprimised, enough static electricity can be generated to cause a spark to ignite flammable liqueds. A CO2 w/o a hose, 2.5 # or 5 # CO2 will generate enough static to be felt through your pants, especially on a cold day.

The water mist extinguisher is safe to use on energized electrical fire because pure water is not electrically conductive. Water w/minerals is electrically conductive. If a water mist is used, it must be recharged w/deioinized water. Amerex sells DI water to recharge the water mist FX.

If I have not completly bored you, go to How
Stuff Works then search for fire extinguishers.

fireguy

I still would like to see the video from the OP, but I can't get my flash to work. I have tried everything including un installing and re installing it, still no U Tube. I hope there are some computer gerus out there that can offer me some pointers.................B