Posted by Jonas. on Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 7:14PM :
In Reply to: FIRE EXTINGUISHERS, use & Selection posted by Paul (in NY) on Friday, September 20, 2002 at 11:12AM :
Very well written Paul.
I will say this, if you buy a dry chem extinguisher, get the biggest one you can get and mount it in a neat and accessable place on the outside of you PW. A Dry chem extinguisher is the most common type of extinguisher in a vehicle, and you can put out a lot of fire with one IF YOU HAVE THE PROPER TRAINING. In my 6 years as a fireman for the Seattle Fire Department, I have yet to see a civilian put out a car fire with a dry chem extinguisher. I will guess I have been to about 30 car fires. Believe me folks, there is a technique, and the directions are on the side of the extinguisher, but most people dont read or follow them. When we get there, we put most of the car fires out with water, but we have 500 gallons to use. Stubborn car fires get a slurry of foam.
If you get those silly little "Kiddie" extinguishers with the plastic valve, get 2 or 3 of them, you'll need em'. Also, annually, check the charge on your extinguisher and bang on the bottom of it with a rubber mallett to keep the dry chem from caking up.
Jonas Smith