| Author | Message | ||
| Peter S�derlund /328 GTB -88 (Corsa)
Junior Member Username: Corsa Post Number: 160 Registered: 4-2001 |
Since my mother had problems with the fuse box in her apartment I bought her a powder fire extinguisher. I frequently had �fire drill� with her when I visited her. A few weeks later she told me that she have had use for the fire extinguisher. Her toaster had caught fire and she did exactly as taught on the fire drill. Unfortunately her first shot with the powder was straight into the larder where she kept all the food. There was some cleaning there I can tell you� BTW Hand held Halon fire extinguisher is illegal in Sweden for some reason. Fixed system as in race cars is OK though. Ciao Peter | ||
| '75 308 GT4 (Peter)
Intermediate Member Username: Peter Post Number: 1797 Registered: 12-2000 |
I agree with Bret on dry-chemical extinguishers, we have them in our shop since we work with fuels and oils. We've had several small fires start from welding sparks... they were gone in an instant when using these extinguishers. I agree Brian that dry-chemical is dirty, but certainly a lot less than a burnt car  . | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
Intermediate Member Username: Bretm Post Number: 2344 Registered: 2-2001 |
That makes me think too Scott... several months ago I was coming home from this girl's house pretty early, I think I had to do a lot of work the next day or something on the Ferrari, so it was like 11pm. I went around a right turn and all of a sudden all the dash lights went dim and the voltmeter went down to 9v. I pulled over and hopped up the curb when smoke start coming in (I got familiar with this smell once when wiring aftermarket reverse lights, when you're 17 and don't know a thing about wiring it tends to happen, so I knew what it was). I ran around the back and grabbed pliers out of the tool box, ripped open the hood and cut the wire. It wound up being a wire from the reverse lights again, which had rubbed against something and eventually broken through and grounded itself out. Well I called my dad and we towed the jeep home that night (we have a towbar and the jeep has brackets on the front bumper). The next day I got a long lesson on the value of fuses. Luckily it hadn't burned into the wiring harness, so my dad (he knows everything) and I rewired it all nice and right. No fires since. | ||
| Scott Anderson (Srandrsn)
Junior Member Username: Srandrsn Post Number: 100 Registered: 4-2001 |
A couple of summers ago I drove down to Milwaukee (about 7 hrs) for the weekend in my 69 corvette. I stop at a Subway for lunch. When I go to start the car smoke starts pouring out from the air vents. I quick pop the hood and see a small fire...luckily I had gotten my lunch "to go" and I put out the fire with my pink lemonaide!!! What had happened was the negative battery cable had been rubbing against the bracket that held it and tore the casing (cloth like) and frayed the wire...when I went to start it must have arced from the cable to the bracket and started the casing on fire. There was enough of the cable left that I was able to re-wrap it (temporarily) with elecrical tape and drive the car home. Moral being: I have never been without an extinguisher since! | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
Intermediate Member Username: Bretm Post Number: 2341 Registered: 2-2001 |
Everyone makes such a big deal over dry powder, I've found that it only takes an afternoon to totally clean a car which has had an ABC chemical fire extinguisher go off in it. Still to this day I don't get how this happened, but somehow the pin managed to fall out and the handle got lodged against the back side window of the jeep with just me driving. It was interesting to say the least. Granted the jeep is a little easier to clean because the whole inside can be hosed out, but still with wet towels you could get a comparable effect. I've seen them all used and ABC is still the best at putting stuff out IMO. | ||
| Brian stewart (Eurocardoc)
Member Username: Eurocardoc Post Number: 259 Registered: 11-2001 |
If you can get a Halon system, it is absolutely the best. Halon has a foracious appetite for oxygen and just starves the flames,dont use in the cockpit though or it will 1) freeze some part of your body or 2) use up your breathing oxygen. It is pretty good but lethal stuff. The new water based systems function pretty well, stay away from the mess of dry powder. | ||
| magoo (Magoo)
Intermediate Member Username: Magoo Post Number: 2425 Registered: 2-2001 |
Brian, Isn't that system a automatic system by Haylon. I understand that it works great. | ||
| Brian stewart (Eurocardoc)
Member Username: Eurocardoc Post Number: 256 Registered: 11-2001 |
I have done several fire repairs to 308/328, put an on-board system in for $5-600 or let it burn to the ground and find another one. The repairs are a pain in the a$$. | ||
| magoo (Magoo)
Intermediate Member Username: Magoo Post Number: 2416 Registered: 2-2001 |
I would say if you don't recognize the problem early enough and get under the hood soon enough you may as well forget it. Oh and be sure your fire extinguisher is not in the trunk area next to the engine. | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
Intermediate Member Username: Bretm Post Number: 2294 Registered: 2-2001 |
I watched a Ferrari burn to the ground like 4 years ago when I was on rescue still. It was in the guy's driveway and there was just no way it was going to be put out with all the weird metals in it, just let it burn itself out. | ||
| James P. Smith (Tigermilk)
Junior Member Username: Tigermilk Post Number: 71 Registered: 7-2001 |
Saw this in a safety newsletter at work on what to do in event of a car fire: "First, get everyone out of the car and away from the vehicle. Second, to get the fire department rolling, either call 911 yourself or have someone nearby do it. Turn off the engine and then pop the hood from the inside of the car. Do not, however, open the hood with the secondary latch found at the front of the vehicle. The inside release will provide you with an approximate 3-inch opening, and this is important for two reasons: 1) Even if you do not feel comfortable with fighting the fire yourself, releasing the hood will provide access for the firefighters. Often by the time firefighters arrive, the fire will have intensified enough to ruin the cable, and the hood would then have to be pried open. 2) An oxygen-deprived fire will travel toward the front (or largest opening) when the hood is raised. Also, the mere shape and curve of the hood is conducive to sending the fire toward the front, the place you would likely be standing were you to open the hood from the outside of the vehicle. Upon releasing the latch inside the car, the flash or flare-up will have already happened by the time you reach the front of the vehicle. Once the hood has been cracked, you should stand to the side of the vehicle and, if possible, insert the fire extinguisher's nozzle into the opening, discharging the chemical onto the fire." It goes on with more extinguisher stuff, but the key thing is don't open that hood! Since most Ferraris have open decks over the engine, this isn't a concern. Fortunately I haven't experienced a car fire, let alone in the Ferrari, but I assume you'd aim the Halon extinguisher right at the metal mesh on the rear deck. Right? Nonetheless, be careful with your other cars. |