Having discharged 3 fire extinquishers unsuccessfully and watching my VW toad burn to the ground, I decided to upgrade a bit.

At the time I had two 1A10BC and a 5BC dry chemical unit.

I learned two things:
You can never have too many
Units without hoses are very limited in their ability to reach a fire in a wheel well.

I now have a 2 1/2 lb dry chemical 1A10BC for the kitchen.
A 5 lb dry chemical 2A10BC (with hose)
A 10 lb dry chemical 4A60BC (with hose)
A 5 lb CO2 with horn.

I have the 4A60BC next to the driver seat. I am still deciding where to mount the other two.

I am not sure these would have been able to put out the VW, but it would have been good to have them. I hope I never have to find out how well they work.

I got the CO2 unit because it leaves no residue. Sadly the dry chemical units leave lots of powder residue which is corrosive and will often destroy electrical components. Cleanup can be almost as bad as the smoke damage from the fire.

I am thinking about a fire system for the engine bay as well.

I encourage all readers to consider what equipment they have and whether it is adequate, both at home and on the road.

....aaannndd!! the CO2 unit can be used to chill your beer in a pinch.

And as a last resort, you can fill the milk jug with water!

I have 2 15#CO2 on deck when traveling in addition to 2 5# on either side of the cabin door, a small bottle in the galley and a 10# dry in the vee berth.
Incidentally Wednesday night on another dock in our harbor a fire destroyed 6 41'+ cruisers.

Good job! Dad has a couple big CO2s on his boat as well. (CO2 works really well in boats. Being heavier than air, CO2 gas can fill the whole hull when you use it inside!)

Gasoline is usually the major culprit. (Dad's Matthews caught fire in 1946. It had a 6 cylinder gas engine at the time. Fortunately it was in a boathouse on land and right next to a fire hose. Suffered major cabin damage but the hull survived.) Another good argument for diesel engines.
(A few years later some drunks holed the hull and sank it... the stories that boat could tell!)

Marina fires are so sad...

When I was in Circleville where I first discovered Barth the plant was closing and no one wanted these heavy things. I had to do training with one when I worked at Shell and loved the result of the CO2, clean. I figure any fire will be lower than the helm and good heavy CO2 will get there.
Don't leave the blower on!

i do not claim to be an expert on RV FIRE EXTINGUISHERS .

But as having the primary responsibility for safety at my company for years i have learned from i do not remember who . WHAT'S IMPORTANT .

the first rule is get everyone out , then count the number of people , then address the fire .

by now you are out of the unit , then and only then , do you decide if you are going to fight the fire .

thus you are out . and now the important thing , NEVER LOCATE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FIRE .

THUS THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER MUST BE EITHER AT THE OUTER DOOR
OR ON THE OUTSIDE .

the principle is this , you reach the fire extinguisher with the fire in front of you and certainty NOT WITH THE FIRE BETWEEN YOU AND THE DOOR .

always at the exit door or outside the exit door .

thus not in the kitchen , not behind the seat , etc .


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10# ABC units make a mess but put out fires , on an old RV or truck is a fire waiting to happen everyday , i would think 2 10# would be a minimum . ABC smothers fires , CO2 COOLS the fire down but it can reignite if you have not made the mass below the rekindling temperature .

clean fire extinguishers like CLEANGUARD CLEAN AGENT EXTINGUISHERS cost 5 times ABC , unless your are rich , one might get one of these CLEAN units , but 3 or 4 10 # abc cost less and i think if you had a real fire you would want more than cleaner .


ps : outdated ( six years old unused) 10 # abs units cannot be used in industry and there are 100s out there and thus you can buy them on craigslist for $10.00 and as long as the gauge shows green they work , buy 5 of them .

i do realize not everyone agrees with my thinking

Jack, no argument on your points for buildings. Boats and RV have limited egress, well placed and spaced extinguishers offer opportunities to reach and complete an exit. Having some training with CO2 I am comfortable with using this but my intent will not be to attack the fire, which if an engine bilge fire might allow dangerous inflow of air, but to flood the compartment with the gas.
Agree on the value of aged extinguishers. I do the annual turn upside down and shake bang the powder loose just because.

Good advice. Evacuate first, fight second. Used units make good sense, too.

I agree with placement near the door but with RVs with front doors there is no place in the steps area with enough room for a large unit without becoming a tripping hazard. On the floor under the passenger seat is the only available location there. That is where the CO2 unit will stay.

The big fire extinguisher by the drivers seat is less than one foot from my left elbow when driving. It is about six inches away from the seat belt. Nothing could be faster to get to on my way out. When the VW burned, I was out the door before the steps were out.

As for the kitchen, if you have a small fire and the extinguisher is up by the front door, precious time is lost to get to it. My small kitchen unit is in the forward drawer near the stove. Other than a pan fire it would be not used.

The other units will be in the outside compartment on the passenger side. (I don't want to get hit by a car getting to it.)

I am still looking into engine bay systems with temperature sensing and remote activation capability.

Bottom line: Think about this ahead of time, be ready if the time comes.

This talk about "fire suppression" and RVs prompted me to look at the Copart auction page. There are some sad endings there.

This is a search limited to gasoline powered RVs that burned.

https://www.copart.com/lotSear...ormSearch%22:true%7D

Matt

the copart pictures take your breath away .

A few year back , at Death Valley Junction which you may know is 100 miles in each direction from a fire station , we were in a rental car and stopped for lunch . A new semi truck drove in beside us smoking with a small fire under the hood. upon opening the hood the fire was 6 inched and on top of the manifold . The trucker's extinguisher did not put it out ,( We had nothing) , and over the next 15 minutes the fire grew and none of the extinguishers in the back of pickups that drove by extinguished it as it grew . At 15 minutes the cab was fully engaged and gone and as the police arrived and started to close the road , the only way out , we left with the fire in our rear view mirror . It was a tanker filled with what ?
So the plan must be put it out fast or your will not be able to .


we have huge liability insurance on our Barth and cars but carry no collision or fire insurance , makes me think . i guess if one owed $100,000 on a unit they would make you carry it , an other reason to drive an old Barth .

Sorry Steve about your VW TOAD . Our 2002 vw Golf DIESEL MT with 240,000 miles was sold to us , if we promised not to scrap it , for $137 . After fixing a vacuum problem it works and tows etc . My lady is of higher class than I , so this year it will need a little rust repair and touch up , we keep the extra fie extinguishers in it .

Years past there were several of friends bikes had pulled over to take a break when 1 of the bikes caught on fire. A quick- thinking soul grabbed couple of beers out a cooler shook the h of them, sprayed them and put the fire out.

quote:

Originally posted by Doorman:
Years past there were several of friends bikes had pulled over to take a break when 1 of the bikes caught on fire. A quick- thinking soul grabbed couple of beers out a cooler shook the h of them, sprayed them and put the fire out.

Now that's quick thinking.

Nick

Geez, thats a good thing but what a waste of beer, soda would have been ok.....LMAO!!!

Years ago, several bikers, taking a break, SODA in coolers. Come on Duane, really.