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COLD FIRE extinguishers..... I was looking for some good fire extinguishers to keep in the coach. I have heard that dry powder ones will get in electronics and ruin them and the AAAF foam ones can cause cancer. I was looking at "Cold Fire" extinguishers and wondering if anybody has experience with them? I can find the web site but no place to buy them...
Thanks
Dave
It's my understanding that Cold Fire extinguishers only protect Type A & B fires. They don't work on Type C fires (Electrical). Given our coach is loaded with electrical fire risk, I'm not sure if this makes sense. Any fireman in the community who care to add perspective?
Thanks Joe, I did not know that. I will check it out with Cold Fire..........
Dave
Going back many years in my memory bank from military training, I remember having it ingrained in our heads that magnesium (used mostly in some aircraft parts) is very difficult to extinguish and most aircraft carriers will just push the parts overboard rather than waste firefighting material putting it out. Do we have any of these volatile metals on our buses that would require special fire extinguishers?
Chuck
I had an electrical fire in the dashboard of an International truck tractor years ago. First thing I did was grab a wrench and disconnected the battery cables. I opened the dashboard and located the burning wires and snuffed out the small flame with a rag, which was not the smartest thing to do but the flame went out and the wire coating continued to melt for a short while and the emergency was over. I figured out that its the continued power to that wire that keeps things burning. I never used the fire extinguisher and did not have a mess. I added an AB fire extinguisher to my arsenal for the next time. In addition to that I placed a wrench in the battery box to avoid wasting time looking for a wrench to disconnect the battery. If I ever have a an electrical fire in my coach, the first thing I would do is shut off all the main power switches located in my battery compartment and then deal with the fire and decide which fire extinguisher to use. In the case of any fire it is important to remember to direct the fire extinguisher at the base of the flame. Hope this gives food for thought.
Great advice Chris. Thanks
Chuck,
I actually passed my federal FEMA CERT training which included fire classifications. Based on my class notes: There's a variety of metals which qualify for a Class-D extinguisher. Sodium, potassium, uranium, lithium, plutonium, calcium, magnesium and titanium. Hopefully noone has any Uranium or Plutonium in their bus. Likely magnesium or titanium are the common metals we might find, but I'm not aware of any, other than my wedding ring (titanium). Lithium is found in Electric vehicles, but I think uncommon in our large coaches. Of course a random flame wont ignite these metals, it takes significant heat with a good fuel source to get them started. Once started, grab your loved ones, some marshmallows and step back, very hard to extinguish.
It's my understanding that Cold Fire extinguishers also do not work on Class-D fires.
My belief is that Class-D fires are a small risk not worth worrying about. A good collection of Class- A,B,C extinguishers is sufficient.