Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

[Tom W.]

[Reba W.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

For maximum effectiveness of dry chemical it needs to be directed at the base of the fire. It extinguishes fire by disrupting the chemical reaction. I am not sure how effective it would be ceiling mounted. For sure it would not be 100%

[Jim D.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

I agree with Reba. They would be pretty much ineffective extinguishing a car fire since the fire is going to usually start under the hood or under the dash and both would be protected from getting any extinguishing agent to the base of the fire. They would be okay above a solvent tank but those tanks have a fusible link that will close the lid in case of a fire.
The only really effective system would be a flooding system with a halogenated agent like what is used in computer rooms. Very expensive. You'd be money ahead to just have good insurance.


Jim

[Stewart A.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

Reba if a fire starts in a car it's extremely hard to put out. Many years ago I did a fire fighting coarse and had to put a car on fire. When it caught on it was imposable to extinguish. It kept on re lighting itself I think it took about 10 goes and even then it kept smoldering and wanting to start up again. The bottle that is for sale is more about saving the office, garage or factory structure. The main cause of a car fire in a Vette is a short. The best thing is a kill switch on your battery or an isolation key to terminate power. Stewy

[Mike M.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

Its better then nothing and not that expensive. If something else started on fire other thrn the car it may help.

[Edward B.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

All of the car fires I have responded to over the years have resulted in a total loss of the vehicle involved. True, there are some that can be repaired/restored, but these are usually limited to cases where the fire is limited to one part of the vehicle and the vehicle has a very high sentimental/collector value. For all the others it is simply not worth the time and money investment involved.
That being said, fire protection in a garage is a wonderful idea, but very difficult to implement for the reasons given by others as to how hard it is to extinguish a car fire. Dry chemical spread over a wide area will be basically useless. A gas system (such as used in electronics installations) would be tops, but very expensive. Next on the list would be a conventional water sprinkler system which would work well on fires starting outside the car, but would do little for the engine compartment or interior fire.
In a final analysis, aside from exercising extreme care with the storage and use of combustable materials (which I am sure you do at present), and not allowing smoking in your car, the single most effective and cost efficient fire protection measure is a battery cut off switch. Install one and you will have eliminated a source of ignition for the majority of unattended vehicle fires.

[Terry M.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

I agree with Mike -- it is better than nothing. But Stu makes an excellent point about the difficulty of automotive fires and their ability to re-strike. We have that issue with electrical fires (and of course some automotive fires are electrical) -- and the only practical solution is water and lots of it. You have to cool whatever has gotten hot enough to re-strike and water is the only way to do that. Even Halon will not prevent a heat generated re-strike.

I recall a transformer fire in an electrical vault years ago. The transformer was air-cooled -- no oil to burn, but the insulation is fiberglass -- but the core got hot enough to re-strike repeatedly. The fire department came with their dry powder truck. They filled the room to knee deep in purple powder. They wanted to take the truck in for service, so they seized the opportunity to empty the truck. The power was off to the transformer -- the fuses had blown almost an hour before we got there, but the re-strikes continued. It was weird to be wading through the powder in order to de-energize the whole room so they could come in with water to absorb the heat. That was the only thing that stopped the re-strikes.

Have you ever seen fiberglass burn?

[Ridge K.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

I'm always happy to see Corvette enthusiasts thinking about protecting their cars from fire. After the fire, is too late to be thinking about fire safety. A few months ago, we had a pretty good discussion on the TDB about this very issue. Search the archives for "69 L88 fire" and there are several good posts on the subject.
Here's a re-run of my post from that thread. Hope this might be helpful, Ridge.

Re: 69 L88 distroyed by fire
How about a quick tip for fellow Corvette owners about fire extinguishers. I retired from the fire service in the spring of 2005, after 29 years of service within the firefighting division of a moderately large, municipal fire department.
Many Corvette owners will have a fire extinguisher that they carry in their Corvette, but most of these are a type of extinguisher commonly called a "dry powder", or "dry chemical" fire extinguisher. Those small fire extinguishers actually do a very good job of either extinguishing a small to moderate fire, or at least containing it until better help arrives. Their downside however, is that they make the biggest mess you have ever seen in your life
In your shop, garage, or home, there is a much better extinguisher available for the type of fire that has been discussed in this thread (under dash with an electrical start). A better choice is a CO2 type fire extinguisher. These are simply not as commonly found, or seen, as the more common dry powder extinguisher. They are also considerably more expensive to purchase, but if needed, they are extremely effective, and leave virtually no mess whatsoever. They fight class B (flammable or combustible liquids such as gasoline), and class C fires (electrical). They are not effective on class A (ordinary combustibles such as paper, wood, or cardboard).

The contents will discharge at full handle pressure in from 15 seconds, up to about 60 seconds, which may not sound like much time, but typically is enough time to knock down the fire pretty effectively. And, no mess to clean up. The CO2 gas being expelled is extremely cold while being discharged, so these extinguishers will commonly spew out pellets similar to pieces of dry ice, which also aids in fire suppression, by absorbing and reducing the heat of the fire. In short, they are very effective, and could, save your own Corvette.

[Ridge K.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

[Tom W.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

Thanks Ridge & everyone else for your input on this subject.
Sounds like the best course of action is to:
1) Double check my auto & homeowners insurance
2) Buy a CO2 Extinguisher
3) Always use the Battery Cutoff Switch
Thanks Again, Tom

[John D.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

Tom, Recently my shop was inspected by my insurance company and I passed except for my fire extinguishes. So after the 2nd notice I bought two of 75 FE 36 Fire Extinguishers for a total of $434.60. Whew!!! They are the latest ABC's with the new Halon something or other. Ansul Inc from WI. The powder makes a really big mess to the point if you have a small engine fire and hit it with the powder you will probably never clean it all up. Course you are not supposed to have fires.
My old fire exts were dated prior to 1984 and the local company would not refill them. So now I have two of the new halons, and 4 of the old powder type that still have a charge or so the gauge says. I also have a sprinkler system in my garage and 3 or 4 smoke detectors wired into my alarm sytem.
You see once you have been in a fire you never forget it. Meanwhile all my chemicals are safe except for the crappy carb cleaner I recently bought from a local auto store that is environmentally safe but is very weak.
Anyhow my insurance company is happy now. And the LWC feels safe too. JD

[Bill M.]

Re: Fire Extinguisher for the Garage

[quote=Tom Weigand (47300);378461] Buy a CO2 Extinguisher
/quote]

Ridge suggested in another thread that we look for a used CO2 extinguisher at the local fire supply. Great idea...much cheaper.