Fire, Garage Drains, Etc.: A Public Service Announcement

[Tsmith]

I've never heard of anyone complaining that the fire extinguisher was too large or there were too many.

I had a small ABC unit in the car and used it to put out an underhood fire of another car on a rally. It did the job, but the fire started again a few minutes later and my extinguisher was spent. Another car stopped and saved the car. Others here with fire fighting experience may know better, but the number before the "BC" is the size, in square feet that the extinguisher is rated for. The "A" number is the volume of the stuff inside.

Bigger is better.

[RoverForm]

in-cab extinguisher

so i'm trying to find a good place to put the extinguisher. i'm somewhat of a purist (or at least i think i am) so i hate to drill new holes anywhere on the vehicle. anyone have input on where/how to mount the extinguisher in the cab?

here's what i'm thinking...

[daveb]

Thanks for the cautionary tale. Although having one or more ABC extinguishers handy should be common practice for anyone involved in our hobby. For one, I NEVER do anything involving fuel tank removal inside a garage or any other structure. That needs to be done outside where the resulting potential damage will be minimized.

After spending $30 or more every time a non-rechargeable extinguisher loses its juice, I finally broke down and bought a larger one with all metal parts for a bit more money. When I took it to my local fire service shop (same place that fills my CO2 bottles) they explained that I could have bought one from them and that the refill/charge would have been free.

I have put out several vehicle fires with dry chem extinguishers, (both gasoline fires) and have been involved in several accidents or near accidents with gasoline. On Justin Fellenz's Unimog, we removed the drain plug from the tank with a NATO can and large funnel underneath. Sadly, the flow rate of the drain aperture was much greater than that of the funnel's neck, and the fuel was flung outward in a five foot diameter cone in the shape of the funnel. Justin was completely soaked in gasoline, and it was in his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. He ran blindly into the house and jumped in the shower and was fortunately ok. This put a big downer on the keg party he was having since the Mog broke down in the middle of the back lawn while trying to use it as a platform to string "party" lights, and draining the tank was part of trying to get it going again.

On another occasion, I had an old Volvo that had a clogged fuel pipe. We put some air pressure on the tank to pump line, at the pump end. Nothing happened, so I stuck a 2 foot long tube into the tank filler opening to listen and see if I could hear the air bubbling up. I didn't, but suddenly I heard a loud rush of air and felt a geyser of fuel come up and around the tube and right into my ear and eyes. It hurt like a mother****er but ultimately there was no injury except to my pride. And that was some foul, old gas too.

Nowadays I still use the drain plugs, but I try to use a big 5 gallon paint bucket to catch the fuel. If there is no way to drain the tank, you can always use a jack to carefully lower it. Just make sure you have a good extinguisher nearby. That should be true anytime you are doing any hot work at all anywhere near a potentially combustible item.

For what it is worth, have also participated in the rebuild of a 109SW that went completely up in flames, and have had way too many other fires or near fires to think about. Last month there was a fire in my neighbors house, she was banging on my front door completely out of her wits at 6:50am, one of the other neighbors got there before I did and put it out. As it were, my home extinguisher was partially discharged and may not have been able to do the job. A week or two later, i was about to leave my house when I heard a strange sound coming from upstairs. The ceiling fan in the front bedroom was glowing inside the motor housing and sparks were getting flung by the fan blades out and onto the cotton bedsheets. It was winding down as it died but I hit the switch and the internal glowing part subsided. I now make it a rule to not leave things like that on when I'm not home.

Make sure you extinguishers are not only charged but also that they are up to date, the dry chemical ones need to be checked and or refilled every five years or so.

[stomper]

As far as where to locate an extinguisher in the truck, Consider getting some strong velcro. I used this to mount mine to the back of the bulkhead, behind the seats, facing the rear of the truck. Now that I am sure I like it there, I will mount it permanently with a few bolts.

I saw a couple of rigs with them mounted in the rear of the truck, just behind the rear side windows, on the roof sides. I like this idea, as it is within reach, even when there is a lot of stuff in the rear of the truck, and also, if there is a fire, it will most likely be in the engine bay area. You can get away, grab the extinguisher, and then attack the fire. If there were flames coming from your gas tank, would you really want to reach in there to get the extinguisher where you have it mounted on the transmission tunnel?

[siiirhd88]

The ABC of the extinguisher denotes the type of fire the extinguisher is rated for. Class A is generic burnables like paper, wood, and cloth. Class B is flammable liquids, gasoline, oil, etc. Class C is electrical fires, which become Class A (or possibly B, depending on wire insulation) once the circuit is deenergized. There are Class D extinguishers for flammable metals, but I have had varied success using them.

The ABC type is the typical home extinguisher. I keep several different types handy, including a pressurized water extinguisher which I feel works better on Class A fires that an ABC type.

Bob
'02 Disco II SD
'80 SIII 109
'75 SIII 88 V8
'68 SIIA 109 V8

[RoverForm]

If there were flames coming from your gas tank, would you really want to reach in there to get the extinguisher where you have it mounted on the transmission tunnel?

i had it setting there to see how i liked it, instead i have set up on the bulkhead between the two front seats inside the cab. this way i can utilize the two bolts already drilled into the bulkhead instead of opening new holes.

the idea here is being able to grab it as you're exiting the truck instead of having to run around to the rear and then to the engine bay (or wherever).

i think for gas tank fires, i'd like to have my hands on something larger than a 2lb to extinguish it since they have an 8-12 second discharge time, and hopefully already have it next to me if i was doing maintenance/repairs.

but i understand your rationale.

[disco2hse]

Agreeing with daveb here. I only ever remove petrol outside.

About the water. In a way you have been lucky that the hose only returned a dribble at first. Petrol is lighter than water and it could have spread the fire with dramatic results if you had squirted directly at the petrol puddle. Water will not extinguish petrol fires since it is the gas that is burning and not the petrol itself.

To extinguish petrol you need to either remove all the oxygen (CO2 type) or smother the petrol to prevent any more gas from being emitted (foam or powder type). The suggestion of sand is good in this regard since that can do the same thing, so too will a large fire blanket if you can fling it over the burn area without burning your self or splashing the petrol further.

[luckyjoe]

Next time you have to drain a tank, use a siphon hose. There are several in-expensive products available. I use the hose for an outboard motor fuel tank with a priming bulb midway. This is all you need to start the flow - don't suck on it! I leave this in my 109 onboard tool kit

IMHO, the fuel tank drain plug is ONLY to get the last tiny bit of fuel out, or to allow flushing with water...

[daveb]

all of the above comments are great. Like I said, I've been in too many actual fires and close calls to take this subject lightly.

The comments about the ABC ratings are right on. To add to that, the problem with using B and C type extinguishers is that they don't remove any residual heat from the area of the fire. My 109 caught fire (gasoline fire) while parked over a leaf pile, and though the ABC dry powder extinguisher was able to put it out, the leaves quickly reignited. I emptied a second extinguisher onto it at that point and then ran and got the hose from the house to douse the leaves.

Now I am happy to be running a diesel LR as the risk of fire is much less.

I have had my extinguishers mounted on the firewall underneath the dash, in between the seats on the center bulkhead, and also on the b-pillar. Anywhere you can reach it from the driving position, and undo the clamp with singlke motion, you should be good to go.

[Les Parker]

Thanks to all for sharing your somewhat alarming stories.
A lesson we can all learn is that you cannot be to careful when working on vehicles, especially in an enclosed space.

I especially believe the original poster is extreemly brave in recounting and sharing with all of us this experience.

Its a scary world out there !!