Fire extinguisher types for various locations

[TJ Hopland]

What types of fire extinguishers do you have for which locations?  And by type I'm mostly talking about letter code and material like dry vs halon.     In the car?   In your shop/garage?   And if its allowed here around your house?

The most common and least expensive are the dry types which tend to work well on multiple types of fires but a down side to them is they make a big mess.   Sure in many cases the extinguisher mess is less damage than if the fire just kept burning but if you had an alternative like halon for say a small fire on your engine you could be back up and running by just repairing your leaky fuel line vs what could be a lot of mess and possible internal damage from the dry material getting sucked into the engine.     

I know they say halon isn't ideal for indoors in many cases but for a car where you are usually going to be outside?   I know they can cost double but anyone that has ever had to clean up after a dry one would likely be willing to pay extra.

Hopefully this will turn into an interesting discussion from both people that have not had fires and maybe people that have actually had to use the various types in various situations and can let us know how the various types perform and what the aftermath is.    Again this isn't comparing not having one vs having one, its comparing the types.     
 

[David Greenburg]

Although I’ve thought about getting halon for the reasons you suggest, I currently have the standard red dry types (BC, I believe) in the house, garage, and cars.  And I did have occasion to use one when my ‘59 caught fire due to a fuel leak a few years ago. It did create a mess, but since apretty much everything that was not metal under the hood was replaced, it was not a big deal.

[Tom Boehm]

I have a SS20 in my workshop in addition to a bigger model they no longer make. I plan to get more SS20's to carry in the car when it is finished. These do not cause damage in addition to the fire like the powdered ones. I actually have a powdered one in my workshop too.
http://www.firefightproducts.com/

[fishnjim]

Not a subject I'd rely on the internet of things to recommend.   See a fire safety professional, vendor, or local fire station, and they can tell you what you need based on amounts and types of hazards.   They make specific extinguishers for mounting in cars.   
You should also be trained in the use of an extinguisher.

[TJ Hopland]

Interesting that they claim the foam doesn't cause the damage that 'others' cause.  Presumably they are talking about the 'dry' types.   You would think the basic formation of the stuff has to be similar so I wonder why the foam makes it do less damage?

I have never just walked up to a fire station to ask for advice before.   Is that something that is considered reasonable to do?   The ones near me don't appear to have what looks like a front door and desk you would walk up to.   I suppose if they were out washing the trucks it would not hurt to walk up to them and ask. 

[Tom Boehm]

I modified my previous post because I found out they no longer make the larger size. It tells on the website why foam works. Why not go up to a firehouse with questions? Go straight to the source for information.

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

If I like the car then I carry a full one. If it is insured for more than it is worth then I carry an empty one!!

Actually I had to use a dry one last year on my mower. I was driving along and it caught fire. It was of course in the back corner of the yard so I had to run (that was a sight in and of itself) to the garage to get it. Made a horrible mess but I just hosed it off and used the mower again after some wiring repair.
I haven't priced them elsewhere but here is an aviation halon one. Says it doesn't leave a mess.
http://www.sportys.com/halon-fire-extinguisher-small.html
Jeff

[Tpicks55]

In my opinion as a fire fighter of 25 yrs I would say dry chemical is the least expensive way to go .  Yes you will have a mess.  We used dry chem on lots of car fires and it does knock it down rapidly.  In the military we used halon for most fires on vehicles ie aircraft and ground support.  The warning is that in a small confined fire area halon sucks out the oxygen  to put out the fire. Thats hard on you.   Also, halon is not good for you to breath in.    Foam works great on fires with gas involved but you need special equipment to aerate the liquid for it to work.  Too big and technical to use for us on cars plus it is very expensive.  I carry a 2A30BC in my trunk.  Its big enough for the car fire and if its not your loosing the car anyway.  CO2 is a very good choice to use on cars as its a  gas. Carbon Dioxide.   It will  knock down the fore and leaves no residue.  I have 2 10 pound CO2 in the garage as that's where I might have a fire involving gas but I also have a 2A10BC in the garage foe small fires involving paper etc.  Hope this helps.

[Jim Stamper]

     My 1931 Cadillac caught fire in June 1968 while on a 600 mile trip. The car was overloaded with college stuff. The body down on a leaky tail pipe caught the body wood on fire, then went up into the horsehair seats, and soon enough up into the roof slats. It took about 20 minutes from discovery to fire out. Three CO2 bottles from passing truckers and a Highway Patrolman did nothing. A hidden fire ( temporarily) and winds rendered the CO2 near useless. It would cloud the fire briefly.
     
The Forrest Service and a pumper truck knocked it out very quickly with water and I didn't mind the mess at all. When your car is on fire, mess doesn't enter into it.

     The interior was completely gutted, slats hanging down, seats charred, all glass broken into "knife blades" as it was not safety glass.

     I started it up and drove it the last 100 miles of the trip home without further incident , but mightily discouraged. Sometimes water is just the thing when access and the fires fuel is a bit out of the ordinary.

     I blame the fire on my failure to fix the tail pipe, and its slow discovery on driving all night and the smoke not being visible in the mirror, and being totally distracted by the news on radio that Robert Kennedy had just been shot.

Jim Stamper   CLC#13470

[Glen]

Working in a shipyard I have used CO2 extinguishers several times.   Mostly because the welder’s fire watch fell asleep, or the welder was working without one.  The CO2 works very well on most fires and leaves no mess. 
I did use a powder type once on a fuel fire on top of an engine.  The engine was not running so the cleanup was simple using a shop vac. 
I think it was on this forum where someone told about their Cadillac has a fire.  It was caused by a bad wheel bearing.  The bearing heated up the wheel to the point where the tire caught fire. He used a powder type extinguisher and it knocked down the flames.  But it reignited.  He used a couple of extinguishers with the same results.   The problem was the wheel was still hot reigniting the tire.  The only thing that would work there was water.  Powder and CO2 will not remove the heat like water would. 

[wrench]

Halon in the garage and utility room (Amerex BC)

Dry Chemical in the Kitchen (Amerex ABC)

Two in each location.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

The most important place to have a fire extinguisher is in your bedroom,
and you can make any joke you want here....

If there's a fire in your house/home at night, that's the only thing that's going
to get you to safety. Someone mentioned 'knowing' how to use one, crucial.
In this instance the job of the fire extinguisher is to blow you a hole to an egress
door. Shoot at the base of the flames in a sweeping motion and keep moving forward
quickly to egress. A 5lb can is only good for 20 seconds of chemical, move swiftly.

We had Halon on the C130's, great product when I've already put on my O2 mask and
selected 100% oxygen. That's the beauty of Halon, is sucks out the air, a third of the fire
triangle. Unfortunately humans rely on air for respiration. So...

I have a 5lb Kidde ABC in my bedroom, 2.5lb Kidde ABC in my kitchen 10' away from the stove,
ergo the area I would recoil to in the event of a grease fire eruption is right where the extinguisher is.
And a 2.5lb Kidde ABC in my shed at the door. I check the fire extinguishers' nozzles, gauges and give
them a 'shake' every New Years Day when I'm doing my annual cleaning, testing, inspection and battery
(Duracell) changing on my smoke and CO2 detectors.

Can you tell I'm ex-military?

2.5 or 5lb for the car when I take it to events?

\m/
Laurie

[Glen]

Laurie has it right.  I have a fire extinguisher in the bedroom, in the kitchen, in the Garage and within reach while sitting in the driver’s seat of my cars. 
I also advise people to take their extinguishers that are near their end of life and build a fire in the back yard. Practice putting out the fire with the old extinguishers.  Have the family join in.  Trying to learn how to use a fire extinguisher while looking at a fire in your house is not ideal.   

[Maynard Krebs]

I became a pessimist on this... figuring that the fascist Feds banned the halon type.

[wrench]

40 Million Kidde fire extinguishers recalled:

Manufactured between 1973 and August of 2017

https://www.consumerreports.org/fire-extinguishers/kidde-fire-extinguisher-recall/

[metalblessing]

Glad to see this topic as I was wondering too.

When I bought my 68 Cadillac Hearse in December it had 2 fire extinguishers behind the seat. They dont have hoses on them, just a pull pin and a short spout. I have no idea if they are good or not. How do you test these things to see if they still good or need replacing? Not sure which extinguisher it is but it looks similar to the Kidde 1-A:10-B:C that I found in google.

I've never used an extinguisher but I should probably make sure I have a working one.

[Tpicks55]

If they are looking old then you are safer to use them as training for your family.  Dry chemical extinguishers when old and sitting tend to clump or harden and most of the agent will not come out.  To be safe imo, get new ones.  You could evaluate them by checking if they have a weight stamped on them and weigh to see how close it is to the stamped weight. 

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Glad to see this topic as I was wondering too.

When I bought my 68 Cadillac Hearse in December it had 2 fire extinguishers behind the seat. They dont have hoses on them, just a pull pin and a short spout. I have no idea if they are good or not. How do you test these things to see if they still good or need replacing? Not sure which extinguisher it is but it looks similar to the Kidde 1-A:10-B:C that I found in google.

I've never used an extinguisher but I should probably make sure I have a working one.

Fire extinguishers, like smoke and O2 detectors, should be replaced every 10 years. Annually the hose/nozzle should be checked for obstructions, the gauge read for full charge, and they should be 'shaken'. You can go to Kidde's website, posted above, find your serial number, and if it was recalled Kidde will send you a new one, no receipt required.

\m/
Laurie