Fire extinguisher. Carry one?

[buzyg]

Well Chris, consensus seems to be they are about as useful as a chocolate tea pot

I bought one for track days but it lives in the kitchen. Reckon it's more like;y to get used there than in the car. Besides the last car I was upside down in didn't catch fire.

[Chris_D]

As stated, it's more of a psychological thing than anything else. I know it would possibly be totally useless, even in the circumstances I found myself in some 30 years ago.
However, it provides at the very least some semblance of just 'having something available in the event of..' and goes some way to allaying my fears, however ineffective it would be, should a fire break out.
Maybe it's easier to understand and appreciate when you actually have been in that situation; when the acrid choking fumes of burning plastics start seeping through into the cabin and filling your nose and lungs and you're desperately trying to scrabble about for a way out, all the time being disiorientated after pushing against the roofliner which is covered in shattered glass, hands ripped to shreds in the process, in order to release the tension in the seatbelt caused by hanging upside down etc.
Maybe your foot's trapped in the pedals and as you feel the searing heat start to radiate through the firewall and melt the soles of your shoes that's when panic/terror/desperation starts and you might think 'a fire extinguisher might come in handy at this point..'
There, I've recounted the juicy bits for you gore-mongers
Hopefully none of us will have to experience a car fire but I know I'll have just have a ikkle bit of confidence by knowing there's something i can use in the event of...

[RedLine]

Leaving work one bonfire night many years ago, I saw a flash and flames erupt right in front of me. For a moment it didn't register that it was inside the car - I thought it was a firework outside. The indicator switch had decided to burst into flames just as I passed the site security at the entrance. I jump out, rush inside and grab a CO2 extinguisher and back out to the car. Pulls the trigger. NOTHING! Empty. Zilch. Nada.
The security guard was bringing another right behind me and that worked. Just a melted switch and steering column plastic shroud. A minute later could have been a different story.
I did have a discussion with the site services manager afterwards!
They might be useless (and create a big mess) but a small extinguisher is better than nothing I would have thought. A couple of hundred litres of water and a big pump is more reliable though.

[TitanTim]

The only time I had a car fire was flicking a fag out the window and it blew back in and landed on my suit jacket on the back seat. I just drove faster until the flames were extinguished. That's the only advice I can give

Tim.

[Chris_D]

The only time I had a car fire was flicking a fag out the window and it blew back in and landed on my suit jacket on the back seat. I just drove faster until the flames were extinguished. That's the only advice I can give

Tim.

You will buy those nasty nylon suits tho tim u cheapskate! Serves u right!
Greenwoods. High feshons for the modern man!

[mmm-five]

The first thing we do when we arrive on a marshal post is to check that the powder extinguishers are not 'caked'. About 1 in 10 is stuck so much that we have to request a replacement.

The AFFF (foam) ones are usually not a problem.

If you have a powder extinguisher in the car/home, then please ensure you regularly check that the powder hasn't become ’caked' in the extinguisher.

To check, simply hold the extinguisher in its stored orientation, place it against you ear and invert it. If you don't hear the powder sliding/whooshing in the casing, then give the base ia couple of taps on the floor and try it again.

If it still doesn't unclog after a few attempts, then it's unlikely to work when you need it most.

The only thing worse than having no fire extinguisher is having a non-working one - as you'll be tempted to tackle the fire with a false sense of security.

[Mr Tidy]

The only time I had a car fire was flicking a fag out the window and it blew back in and landed on my suit jacket on the back seat. I just drove faster until the flames were extinguished. That's the only advice I can give

Tim.

You will buy those nasty nylon suits tho tim u cheapskate! Serves u right!
Greenwoods. High feshons for the modern man!

Maybe, but at least his jacket hopefully saved the seat covering!

That's something I had sort of forgotten until now - looking at used cars back in the 70s/80s/90s nearly every car had at least one fag-burn on the seats! How times change - now they all have spotless ashtrays and unused lighters.

[TitanTim]

The only time I had a car fire was flicking a fag out the window and it blew back in and landed on my suit jacket on the back seat. I just drove faster until the flames were extinguished. That's the only advice I can give

Tim.

You will buy those nasty nylon suits tho tim u cheapskate! Serves u right!
Greenwoods. High feshons for the modern man!

Chums menswear for me Chris, the only place that sells trousers with extra growing room

Tim

[Chris_D]

The first thing we do when we arrive on a marshal post is to check that the powder extinguishers are not 'caked'. About 1 in 10 is stuck so much that we have to request a replacement.

The AFFF (foam) ones are usually not a problem.

If you have a powder extinguisher in the car/home, then please ensure you regularly check that the powder hasn't become ’caked' in the extinguisher.

To check, simply hold the extinguisher in its stored orientation, place it against you ear and invert it. If you don't hear the powder sliding/whooshing in the casing, then give the base ia couple of taps on the floor and try it again.

If it still doesn't unclog after a few attempts, then it's unlikely to work when you need it most.

The only thing worse than having no fire extinguisher is having a non-working one - as you'll be tempted to tackle the fire with a false sense of security.

Those powder extinguisher casings sound like they could benefit from a design review- maybe to include an observation window of some form. Polycarbonate strip would do and would easily hold up to internal pressure of what is it 3-4 bar?

[enzed4]

firebobby is right to point out that the small domestic extinguishers are probably going to be unable to combat an established fire, but I would rather be the guy who emptied an extinguisher at a car fire (and maybe bought the occupant(s) or rescuers slightly more time to get out) than the other 99% of rubberneckers standing around doing nothing (or better yet, filming on the ever-present cellphones, probably holding the Fecking things up the wrong way so the video looks like sh1t on every news channel that picks it up. You don't stand your widescreen TV on its end to watch it, so why the F*ck do you hold your phone that way when filming???... but I digress, sorry)

[Zedona]

They are a legal requirement in France (where I am now) as well as a first-aid kit, bulb kit and hi-vis vests, which have to be in the car so you can put them on before exiting . My extinguisher is in the boot like most people but I have seen brackets to mount infront/under the drivers seat.

[Rob_benton]

The first thing we do when we arrive on a marshal post is to check that the powder extinguishers are not 'caked'. About 1 in 10 is stuck so much that we have to request a replacement.

The AFFF (foam) ones are usually not a problem.

If you have a powder extinguisher in the car/home, then please ensure you regularly check that the powder hasn't become ’caked' in the extinguisher.

To check, simply hold the extinguisher in its stored orientation, place it against you ear and invert it. If you don't hear the powder sliding/whooshing in the casing, then give the base ia couple of taps on the floor and try it again.

If it still doesn't unclog after a few attempts, then it's unlikely to work when you need it most.

The only thing worse than having no fire extinguisher is having a non-working one - as you'll be tempted to tackle the fire with a false sense of security.

Brilliant advice !!

Just checked 2 powder fire extinguishers in my house that are a few years old but no expiry dates, no noise until I tapped them.
No I can hear the powder moving ( sounds like a sand egg timer).
I presume their ok now ?

Thanks again !!

[Lance]

They are a legal requirement in France (where I am now) as well as a first-aid kit, bulb kit and hi-vis vests, which have to be in the car so you can put them on before exiting . My extinguisher is in the boot like most people but I have seen brackets to mount infront/under the drivers seat.

Incorrect (although may be sensible), as a visitor driver, there's no legal requirement to carry a first aid kit, bulb kit or fire extinguisher in France. This also applies across most of Europe.

[85genius]

Just remembered my old Pug 406 coupe.... That was a stunning looking car and made a truly epic sound with the 3.0V6 engine and straight through exhaust system...

But occasionally (only very occasionally) if you had something plugged into the ciggy lighter socket (not a lighter mind) maybe a bluetooth dongle or a phone charger even a sat nav then just very occasionally it would set on fire....

Weird thing is the fires were the least of my electical worries the seat taking over a minute to slide forward to let a passenger in the back was also liveable with, the alarm going off just randomly was an often inconvenience as was the drivers window deciding to open on occasion when you decided to lock the car...

I really did love that car but electrical systems that are designed in France then assembled in Italy is something I will consequently do my utmost to avoid

[mmm-five]

Brilliant advice !!

Just checked 2 powder fire extinguishers in my house that are a few years old but no expiry dates, no noise until I tapped them.
No I can hear the powder moving ( sounds like a sand egg timer).
I presume their ok now ?

Thanks again !!

They should e fine for a while, but just keep checking them regularly (every couple of months should be fine).

I've been relatively lucky when marshalling, as I've only had 2 fire events to attend.

One was at the Britcar24 at Silvertsone...which is when I fell in love with the Z4 coupe...where an M3 hit the grass on hangar straight and flipped. He hit the Armco, burst into flames and did a barrel roll...before landing back on his wheels with the onboard fire extinguisher already putting out the fire.

The other one was when a Ginetta (driven by Hunter Abbott) did a huge number of rolls at Oulton Park. The driver ultimately needed assistance to get out and had minor burns, but that thing just disintegrated in about a minute, and despite there being about 10 extinguishers on it, it barely held back the flames. Luckily, the fire tender arrived quickly and doused the rest.



BTW...the fire tender - a pick up truck with a huge foam extinguisher on the back - can exhaust its supply as quick as we can empty a 9-12 litre extra extinguisher.