what fire extinguishier for inside car

what would you buy to be stored inside the car, powder,chemical etc etc ????

seen a members rx7 thread were his car went on fire and then perished away.

seen some on ebay just dont know what to buy and advice muchly appreciated

personally i'd have a powder one - if you concider what can cause a fire in a car - electrical/fuel etc...

Depends what the fire is from as to your chances anyway. Oil or fuel. If it's fuel your knackared anyway unless you have a proper cutoff setup.

You need to research a bit.

Yahoo review

Professional FIA approved

Mclarens Solution

Advice on how to react

The usual advice is:

Only if you believe it is safe to do so, Using only a dry powder or foam extinguisher attempt to put out the fire with. If the fire is in the engine compartment, aim the extinguisher through the radiator grille or under the edge of the bonnet do not open the bonnet. If you are in any doubt, don't attempt to tackle the fire, your car can be replaced you can't !!!.

 

Never use water on an engine fire

From Google Answers page

 

Fire extinguishers carried in cars should be, according to various

Fire stations’ Websites, dry powder. Dry powder is a multipurpose

extinguisher, suitable for solids (wood, paper, etc), flammable

liquids, flammable gases and electrical equipment. It is not suitable

for oil fires though, including chip pan fires. Of course, it goes

without saying that fire extinguishers are suitable for small fires,

but anything bigger should be left to the professionals. They should

also be maintained regularly.

 

For car use, one Website recommends a one kilo powder extinguisher.

“For car fire protection opt for a minimum of a 1kilo extinguisher of

the powder type, keep it in the car, not the boot, and learn how to

use it.”

http://www.ourcar.co.uk/fire.htm

 

Remember that if you have a small fire extinguisher, there may not be

enough in it to extinguish a fire completely.

 

The Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service also recommend the use of

a dry powder extinguisher, although this deals with fires under the

engine.

“If you believe it is safe to do so, attempt to put out the fire with

a dry powder or foam extinguisher. If the fire is in the engine

compartment, do not open the bonnet but aim the dry powder or foam

through the radiator grille or under the edge of the bonnet”

http://www.rbfrs.co.uk/fsh_car_fires.htm

 

Odiham fire station recommends carrying a small dry powder canister to

put out car fires.

http://www.odiham-fire-station.co.uk/Safety/Vehicle_Fires.html

 

While researching, I did find a couple of sites that recommend the use

of halon fire extinguishers for use in cars. However, there are

several problems with these. First of all, they are more expensive

than other types of extinguishers, and they are also hard to find. The

biggest barrier to using a halon extinguisher is the environmental

affects of the gas, and extinguishers of this type are due to be

‘decommissioned’ in coming months. Many manufacturers have voluntarily

withdrawn the halon extinguishers.

“Under current European legislation the refill of Halon Extinguishers

will be banned from 31st Dec 2002 and all units must be withdrawn from

service and decommisioned by 31st Jan 2003.”

http://www.flameskill.co.uk/pages/news.htm

 

The Fire Safety Website contains more information about the phasing

out of halon extinguishers:

http://www.firesafe.org.uk/html/halon2.htm

 

There are also a couple of drawbacks to using dry powder

extinguishers; they are messy for a start. One Website, NSX Prime,

suggests that the older dry powder extinguishers may damage aluminium

and magnesium. However, the site does point out that the more modern

dry powder formulations are less corrosive.

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Accessories/fireextinguishers.htm

 

The UK Fire Service resources page also mentions some of the pitfalls

of using a dry powder extinguisher:

“Danger Safe on electrical equipment although does not penetrate the

spaces in equipment easily and the fire may ignite. Does not cool the

fire very well and care must be taken to ensure the fire does not

flare up again.”

http://www.fireservice.co.uk/extinguishers.php

 

In the home, according to the UK government’s ‘Fire Kills’ Website,

the best type of fire extinguisher to have is Multi-Purpose dry powder

or Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF).

 

“Multi-purpose dry powder or Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) are

probably the best choices. They have the fewest dangers and are

effective on many types of fire.”

http://www.firekills.gov.uk/protection/06.htm

 

However, the site also mentions some of the pitfalls of using powder

extinguishers, such as the fact that it does not cool the fire, the

fire may re-ignite or penetrate small spaces well.

 

Aqueous Film Foam is not suitable for electricity fires or chip pan

fires.

http://www.firekills.gov.uk/protection/06.htm

 

I have already mentioned above that dry powder is not suitable for fat

pan or chip pan fires; instead try a fire blanket, which smothers the

flames. Even Carbon Dioxide extinguishers are not suitable for these

types of fires.

The extinguisher table on Odiham Fire Station’s Website has more

detail.

http://www.odiham-fire-station.co.uk/Safety/extinguisher_table.htm

 

The site also has fire safety tips for in the home.

http://www.odiham-fire-station.co.uk/Safety/Homesafe.html

 

A fellow researcher with experience in this field, till-ga, has

recommended that the size of the fire extinguisher be about six

litres, instead of the smaller two litre canisters.

 

If you want to buy fire extinguishers online, there are several

resources.

 

MFS Fire Extinguishers

http://www.mfs-fire-extinguishers.co.uk/

 

Expressfire.co.uk

http://www.expressfire.co.uk/

 

Kidde Home & Car fire extinguishers

http://www.safelincs.co.uk/products/fire-extinguishers.htm

some nice info there cheers will have to investigate it later

some nice info there cheers will have to investigate it later

Me too!!

I like this in Pete's quote

"There are also a couple of drawbacks to using dry powder

extinguishers; they are messy for a start."

Well yeah - but a fire makes a shit load more mess!

lol:rlol:

personally i'd have a powder one - if you concider what can cause a fire in a car - electrical/fuel etc...

yup defo need a dry powder one