Recommend a fire extinguisher for the car

Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here, its certainly not cafe material...

I was driving on an empty road when I noticed smoke on the shoulder ahead, a car had broken down and white smoke was rolling out from a wheel well. The old man was in the drainage canal with a milk jog trying to collect water. Being a guy who keeps a jar of windshield wiper fluid, a bottle of power steering, a bottle of 5W-30, and a container of engine coolant in the trunk at all times, I pulled over think I'd save the guy some money from doing a coolant flush with all that lake water in his system. As it turned out the car locked up, overheated, and the smoke wasn't just steam.

I asked if he needed the number for a wrecker and he had one coming. I pulled out a bottle of ice water from the cooler, gave it to him, wished him good luck and then I left.:shrug:
Now some weeks later, I've been thinking of tossing a fire extinguisher in the trunk. While my shovel can handle any small fire I may run into, its not going to do much to contain a car fire. While I can't expect to put out the fire it could buy me some time at an accident scene if the passenger can't get out quickly.

Any suggestions? Preferably not too bulky, must be able to withstand some occasional milkshake vibration and must be able to handle 120F heat over the summer.

I've seen some demos of Cold Fire spray and it looks impressive. It comes in an aerosol can, so you might need more than one. I have a 2 1/2lb Halon in my car. Halon's a gas, so it can fight hidden fires better than a powder would. You can get a used one on ebay pretty cheap. I'd steer away from multi purpose big box store ones. We had a oven fire a few years back, and I used a "home" extinguisher. There was still bits of powder in the cabinets a year later. Not to mention, the powder burns the eyes and throat as well. :shakehead

If you get one learn how to use it as well IE dont rush and open the Bonnet(Hood) as it just causes a fire ball in your face.

Second think about size and how long it will last a 1kg powder gives about 8 to 10 seconds of use most car ones are 600g to 2kg and powder as its good for electrical and fuel as well as solids they are rate A B or A B C

Get one with a guage so you can check its conditon also powder ones should be turned ocasional (once evet 6 months) to stop the powder clumping or going solid.

And dont bury it in the boot(trunk) if you cant get to it you cant use it. Idealy it needs to be with in reach of the drivers seat.

Alex K., I know the ones you mentioned...looks like a tall spray can.
After reading about some cpfer with a can of "good stuff" poppin in the backseat makes me nervous about those aerosol can designs...that'll probably be something I'd throw in my day pack and carry it with me. I'm pretty sure I'm the only guy on campus who carries his extension cord and a folded shovel along with his computer and books anyway, whats a little weight compare to an emergency? Mom calls me crazy, but guess who she goes around and tries to find when she needs a tool and dads not around. :nana:

orbspeed1 said:

If you get one learn how to use it as well IE dont rush and open the Bonnet(Hood) as it just causes a fire ball in your face.

Second think about size and how long it will last a 1kg powder gives about 8 to 10 seconds of use most car ones are 600g to 2kg and powder as its good for electrical and fuel as well as solids they are rate A B or A B C

Get one with a guage so you can check its conditon also powder ones should be turned ocasional (once evet 6 months) to stop the powder clumping or going solid.

And dont bury it in the boot(trunk) if you cant get to it you cant use it. Idealy it needs to be with in reach of the drivers seat.

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Good tips here orbspeed1, I'd prefer to have it behind my driver seat or under it from the front, I have the seat all the way back anyway. Nobody's going to have to sit there cuz its full of books. Only things in the boot is the iron, lifter, utility strobe, a couple flares, and a toolbox with my mess kit in it. Occiasionally there'd be a cooler or a thermo in a cardboard box with water, canned noodles, trioxane and some single use propane cans and a small burner. If I'm not still in college I'd toss some ammo in there too and something light enough to shoot that won't cost me gas hauling it.

I've been advised not to pop the bonnet open in the event of a fire. The firewall will do a good job keeping it isolated from the driver, and it'll smolder unless I give it oxygen. The only experience I have fighting fires related to cars was trying to put out a tyre, it sure was fun... NOT! Those things are impossible to put out, only thing I could do with to take my shovel out and pitch dirt on it. I can still remember the smell today :green:

I'm not too thrilled about powder, but CO2 ones are heavy and expensive. :shakehead

thanks for the tip on maintenance too, good day ole chap

for a car with electricity, gas and oil, battery acid involved, co2 would be the best choice. it also cools beer, thou it has to be an emergency, cuz it is like $50 a pop to refill co2.

as for hood, never pop it up, spray co2 from under the car, gas will fill engine compartment and do its thing.

Illum said:

Alex K., I know the ones you mentioned...looks like a tall spray can.
After reading about some cpfer with a can of "good stuff" poppin in the backseat makes me nervous about those aerosol can designs.

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You might mean me. If so, it was a can of Fix-A-Flat, and it didn't explode, it got squished and punctured by the back seat being folded.

I keep a 3.5lb ABC in the cars and a 10lb ABC in the trucks. All are mounted in the cab. It's like a gun, if you need it you're going to need it RIGHT EFFING NOW. In your trunk will be useless, the problem will be outside of your ability to control it by the time you get to the fire extinguisher. Make sure they're securely mounted, you don't want them flying around should you get in a crash. Pay attention to the expiration date, use your old one for practice and replace it when it expires. Preferably buy one that you can have recharged, they're more expensive up front but cheaper in the long run. Fire extinguishers are cheap enough to start with, buying one specifically to practice with is a good idea. Again with the gun analogy, you DON'T want the first time you ever use it to be when you're flying high on adrenaline and your safety or someone else's depends upon you manipulating a complex device which you have no experience with, with fingers that have become sausages. Some familiarity ahead of time will be invaluable.

Costco sells a twin pack of automotive extinguishers. They are considered automotive because they have very short nozzles and therefore store easier. I think the price is currently around $25, so cheap it's not worth recharging one if you use it.

Here's a pic from an old Costco ad.

I have a 2kg general purpose fire extinguisher in trunk.
I usually get it even inspected regularly

When you get one, you probably won´t need one :thumbsup:

Halon is regarded as the best for car extinguishers, but at $200+ you'd better hope people don't ask to borrow it too often.

The problem with a normal extingusher is that the powder is corrosive, so you may have averted a fire only to cause more problems later on. I've heard of some cars being saved from a fire, only to be totalled by the damage caused by the extinguisher. Plus, it's one of those things where bigger is better, but big enough to be effective is too big to carry around, and small enough to carry is not very effective.

Unless you spot the fire very, very early and are quick with the extinguisher, a small 2lb extinguisher probably won't do much. The time I've actually used one of those for a stove fire, it felt like using a water pistol that lasted all of 2 seconds. In reality it was probably closer to 8 or 10, but when you're facing even a small fire you can never have too large of an extinguisher. They have 20lb or larger ones, but they're rather large and cumbersome to carry around, it's the type you would normally see in the hallway of an office building. If you require more than that, at that point it's probalby a lost cause anyhow and you're better off leaving it to the fire department.

I carry a 2lb one under my seat, and am upgrading the one in the back to a 5lb (not sure if that's the actual size or the rating, i forgot) The one under my seat is mainly for myself if i need to get out of the car, and the one on the back is for other people's vehicles or an engine fire. I figure if I can't put it out it with those, the fire is too big for me to do anything about it.

Even if the powder is corrosive and messy it is still better than having your car burn up in flames. The powder could be neutralized and washed off immediately versus a car totally burn up is history. Unless you hate your car and have insurance then you don't need a fire extinguisher.

InTheDark said:

Halon is regarded as the best for car extinguishers, but at $200+ you'd better hope people don't ask to borrow it too often.

The problem with a normal extingusher is that the powder is corrosive, so you may have averted a fire only to cause more problems later on. I've heard of some cars being saved from a fire, only to be totalled by the damage caused by the extinguisher. Plus, it's one of those things where bigger is better, but big enough to be effective is too big to carry around, and small enough to carry is not very effective.

Unless you spot the fire very, very early and are quick with the extinguisher, a small 2lb extinguisher probably won't do much. The time I've actually used one of those for a stove fire, it felt like using a water pistol that lasted all of 2 seconds. In reality it was probably closer to 8 or 10, but when you're facing even a small fire you can never have too large of an extinguisher. They have 20lb or larger ones, but they're rather large and cumbersome to carry around, it's the type you would normally see in the hallway of an office building. If you require more than that, at that point it's probalby a lost cause anyhow and you're better off leaving it to the fire department.

I carry a 2lb one under my seat, and am upgrading the one in the back to a 5lb (not sure if that's the actual size or the rating, i forgot) The one under my seat is mainly for myself if i need to get out of the car, and the one on the back is for other people's vehicles or an engine fire. I figure if I can't put it out it with those, the fire is too big for me to do anything about it.

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IIRC the dry chemical in extinguishers is mostly baking soda.

Nascar requires Halon which is being replaced by hydroflurocarbon HFC which is less toxic.

Dupont's FAQ's on motorsport extinguishers.

Couple basic points from a Hanford Fire Department of the U.S. Dept. of Energy in Richland, WA

http://www-jnet.juniper.net/techpub...y/m-mx-t-series-fire-safety-requirements.html

Do not use multipurpose Type ABC chemical fire extinguishers (dry chemical fire extinguishers) near Juniper Networks equipment. The primary ingredient in these fire extinguishers is monoammonium phosphate, which is very sticky and difficult to clean. In addition, in minute amounts of moisture, monoammonium phosphate can become highly corrosive and corrodes most metals.

Any equipment in a room in which a chemical fire extinguisher has been discharged is subject to premature failure and unreliable operation. The equipment is considered to be irreparably damaged.

Hence we never fire an ABC extinguisher in an equipment room.... leave the Halon/FM-200 to do the job.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_Dry_Chemical

Due to the corrosive properties of ABC Dry chemical, it is not recommended for use around aircraft or sensitive equipment.

Actually come to think of it, that's probably why all our extinguishers are black colored CO2 units. My home one is an ABC... I should really consider changing to CO2 since I have tons of electronics and lights that I wouldn't like to kill.

alpg88 said:

as for hood, never pop it up, spray co2 from under the car, gas will fill engine compartment and do its thing.

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well, CO2 is heavier than air, but it does dissipate quite rapidly.

LowBat, I've seen those before...I believe Autozone has them. I think they are too small to fight an engine fire, but for an interior cabin fire they might be very useful

FlashKat said:

Even if the powder is corrosive and messy it is still better than having your car burn up in flames. The powder could be neutralized and washed off immediately versus a car totally burn up is history. Unless you hate your car and have insurance then you don't need a fire extinguisher.

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If the fire department is dispatched I'm sure they'll make sure to hose the car down before they're done anyway


I'm just surprised to know that the carriage of large fire extinguishers in autos isn't a new concept.

Halon is surely a very effective way to put out a fire. Unfortunately, when it does its work, dioxins and furans may be generated, so I will stay away from these kinds of fire extinguishers as far as I can.
IMHO it doesn't help much to put out a fire only to be left with supremely toxic waste.

$200 puts a halon fire extinguisher outside the budget of many people, while a $15 ABC from Wally World is doable. As Darrel (or Voltaire) would say, "Perfect is the enemy of good." Better to have a corrosive ABC fire extinguisher available than none at all.

Illum said:

well, CO2 is heavier than air, but it does dissipate quite rapidly.

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yea, but there is huge volume of it coming out, fast, so density is not an issue. try it.

it also good for disabling an engine, spraying into the grill, or anywhere close to air intake will shut engine down, i have won few bets with that trick.

Diesel_Bomber said:

$200 puts a halon fire extinguisher outside the budget of many people, while a $15 ABC from Wally World is doable. As Darrel (or Voltaire) would say, "Perfect is the enemy of good." Better to have a corrosive ABC fire extinguisher available than none at all.

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That's true, it's better to have any type of extinguisher than none at all. But just consider the aftermath of a vehicle fire and how much damage and extra clean up work can be caused by using a normal ABC, suddenly the $200 won't seem like that big of an investment. Especially on newer cars with a lot of plastic and electronics, $200 in damage is very easy to accumulate. It's a lot like insurance, it seems like wasted money until you actually need it, then all of a sudden the up front cost seem downright cheap.

I forgot to mention that I think there's a new (safer?) replacment for Halon, it's Halotron. Still a lot more expensive than a normal extinguisher though. There's also Fireade2000

http://www.firesupplydepot.com/fire-extinguishers.html

It seems to be some sort of additive that you can add to a regular water extinguisher. I don't know anything else about it, but looks promising. The fact that you can recharge it at home is pretty nice.

I plan on carrying one of each type, one specific for the car, and a normal ABC for other uses (campfires, other fires, or a backup for the first one).

Forgot about this thread, I currently have two of these on the car


One in the trunk box and the other in a toolbox sitting in the passenger side floor. I haven't been able to find CO2 extinguishers that fits automotive dimensions while being inconspicuous. I can store it behind me but if I can't access it it would possess no value. These have been my the car for about a year now... looking toward upgrading down the road.

I do appreciate the inputs guys, :thanks:

BTW, as part of my CERT (Community Emergency Response Team (a tiny little division of the Department of Homeland Security)) training, we were trained in how to use fire extinguishers, and the first rule of thumb was this: If the fire is bigger than a wastebasket, it's too big for a fire extinguisher, so call the FD and bug out.