fire extinguisher location?

I was going to go get a fire extinguisher but after asking Fchat someone pointed out the following:

"All this "carry a fire extinguisher" stuff sounds good BUT the reality is that the most dangerous thing you can do if your engine compartment area catches fire - the most likely place for a fire to happen - is to open the hood to try and put it out. That's when serious injuries occur because when you open the hood the fire will flare up due to the sudden increased airflow."

I came to the conclusion that my life or well being was worth a lot more than saving the insurance company money. If my car catches fire they will "total" the car, I will get $45,000 which is my agreed upon value and I will get another 308. Save the money and keep your interior clean looking and original and pass on the extinguisher.

 

Most installations I've seen have been right in front of the passenger seat, or against the passenger side of the console, in the footwell. Do a bit of searching on these forums and you'll see plenty of pictures.

Here's a thread with some examples.

BUT it'll sound even better when you need to put a fire out to save someone's life.

Arguing against a fire extinguisher is almost as silly as arguing against the use of seat belts.

 

Here is where I placed mine.
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Mine is in the same location. I like having it knowing that I can at least try to (safely) save the car if something happened.
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Here's where I placed mine in my 75 308 GT4. Saw a similar setup in the Forza 308 GT4 buyers guide.

Dom
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I carry a serious first aid kit, a wool blanket, and an extinguisher because I once came upon a nasty wreck with two injured teens and could only watch them go shocky while waiting for the EMTs to arrive. Thankfully, there was no fire. I can think of few things more horrible than be trapped in a burning vehicle, and it happens more than we know, and I think everyone should carry an extinguisher, mainly for others.

 

Most place the extinguisher in front of the passenger seat because the brackets is easy to fabricate. IMHO it is difficult to access especially if a passenger is sitting there covering it with their legs.

Having it on the drivers left is accessible from the outside through my always open window or easy to grab if I've brought the car to a stop and am exiting.

Just as the passenger mounts to the front seat bolts, mine mounts to the drivers rear seat bolts. The bracket was easy to fabricate with hammer executing the bends and welder joining the two pieces, drilling a few holes. Two hours, couple three feet of 1 1/2" steel strap and a paint can.
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Mine is tucked just in front of the passenger seat. In this location, it is easily accessible to either the passenger or the the driver when they are in the car, and, if being accessed from outside, it can be reached through either door. If you locate it in between the driver's door and the driving seat, it is really only available to the driver while in the car, and, if accessed from the outside, only accessible through the driver's door. I think that the greater accessibility of the location in front of the passenger seat makes sense for an emergency device such as the in-car fire extinguisher. Have you ever seen a vehicle catch on fire? It usually is not instantaneous total, all-consuming combustion, so seconds can make all the difference in dealing with the situation.

 

The main unit (5 lbs or higher) in front of the passenger seat on solid mount, connect output hose from the head (one out, then split after firewall) to spray nozzles (two total)over each of the gas tanks. If engine catches fire, easy to activate the fire extinguisher and walk/run away as the chemical/gas sprays the engine bay without ever needing to be opened. Of course if this is SCCA or other sanctioned body, you also need a nozzle in the driver compartment to meet specifications.

See: www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100317&highlight=halon

 

You don't really have to open the rear hood on a 3x8 to use the fire extinguisher. Remember, we've got those huge vents over the engine. You can shoot the extinguisher right through the vents to suppress the fire, and then open the hood and hit it some more. I know that there is the "let it burn and I'll just collect the insurance" school of thought, and if my car was burning big-time, I'd back away so as not to be engulfed if the gas tank ruptured. But if it was minor and I could catch it early, I'd truly regret not having an extinguisher in the car.

In my 308, I had one of those brackets that attaches to the front bolts of the passenger's seat. It worked well. I have a similar setup in my Corvette, as most of the tracks I run and clubs I run with require an extinguisher in the car, easily accessible to the driver. I don't have one in the 328 yet, but will be installing one this spring. IMHO, it's worth having.
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I had a GT4 once.
It had a bad fuel regulator from Napa once.
It caught on fire once.
I had a fire extinguisher in the cabin, mounted in the same place Dom has his, once.
I took the fire extinguisher out, opened the hood. squirted in the engine, saved the engine and the car, and did not die from the incident, not even once.
I spent a couple of hours cleaning it up afterwards, nobody died from that either.

I did not care about the insurance company, but after all that work I put into the car, I was not going to stand there and watch the thing burn to the ground when I had a chance to save it.

Once, I also have seen a lady standing by the side of the road waving a white hankerchief while her husband tried to put out the underdash fire of their camper, without an extinguisher. From that day on, I always have a fire extinguisher in my cars.

Fire, or not, save someone or not, it is your decision. Mine is always have a fire extinguisher.

 

I made the Charness Harness (do a search in this forum) and it sits in front of the passenger seat.

 

When i was 17, My MGA had a gas fire - stopped the car, pulled the extinguisher from the trunk & put out the fire. repainted the hood and did a little wiring repair.

I pulled up to myjob site to discover that one of my employees truck was on fire. I sqirted it about 10 times, each time the fire came back because the enginewas so hot it reignited. Finally after using all of the 5 pound dry chemical and having it pop back to life again, i told the owner to go get a bucket of water and that finally did it. Truck was a total.

Another jobsite, this time at the beginning of the day, another ford truck pulled up to work and was on fire. One squirt fromthe dry chemical and it was out. minor damage.

If you can put the fire out in the first minute or so, you stand a lot better chance of saving the car. If it really gets going, you are done.

If the car is just another car, not something you have really invested a lot of personal time, blood and effort into, then yeah, just let it burn, take the $$$ and go get another more or less like the one you had before.

My small halon extinguisher ison the little hump behind the drivers seat. I can reach around and get it out fairly quickly, without unstrapping.

The "real deal" a 5 pound Halon is in the back left well next to the jack.

I have heard that the dry chemical is really tough on aluminum and other engine components and should be cleaned off immediately after the fire - soon anyway.

Any experience with this out there???

Halon is environmentally unfriendly, but it has a lot less impact than 3200 pounds of burning rubber, plastic, carpet and tires and it leaves no mess.

chris

 

Here's my solution:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=233895

 

I have a built in system with the discharge button inside behind my left elbow above the engine compartment release. Bottle is in the luggage compartment. But also have a portable unit behind the passanger seat not attached.

 

The most popular location for an extinguisher on a 308 is in front of the passenger seat. However, I didn't want to limit the fore/aft movement of the seat so I had it mounted behind the passenger seat - it fits perfectly at the bottom of the bulkhead and I can reach it easily in the event of an emergency.

 

I'm lucky to be short, so my driver's seat is always up near the front of the rail. My extinquisher sits behind the driver's seat, easy to get at on the way out.

Paul

 

I smelt smoke and pulled over in my MGB. A wiring cable had chafed and set light to the underseal right by the fuel tank. I put it straight out with an extinguisher and live to tell the tale.

 

I did the same thing...

 

Me too...
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my brother tried starting my porsche 930 turbo with starting fluid with an already flooded bosch CIS sensor plate housing. KABOOM!!!! He suffered torched eyebrows and ringing eardrums but the handy red bottle next to the front seat quickly doused chernobyl . Was great opportunity to yank the crap CIS injection and install a nice EFI set-up. ClydeM, Charness Harness, nice description, havent heard that one before.

 

The commonly used plans for a bracket setup are here:

http://www.tradetutor.com/raceprep/