my 61 impala caught on fire sat, carb flooded , pulled over motor caught on fire, messed up a lot of stuff under hood, plus smoked up interior, thanks for a guy in a orange firebird, he had a fire extinguisher , I am ok, just sad,
ALL MY CLASSIC CARS HAVE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS! HALITE TO BOOT! CHEAP INSURANCE. Glad you're OK, the Impala can be repaired. Good Luck, KK
Man, I learned to always carry an estinquisher the hard way too. Hope it turns out well. 61 Chevy one of my favorites. Good luck Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
My neighbor (we will call him Mr Dummas) cleaned his engine with gas in his driveway, when he was done he started it and yep, it caught on fire ... so he drives it into garage because (drumroll pleeze) .... that is where he kept the fire extinguisher. The fire department got there before the whole house went up.
One in every car, one on each welder, plasma cutter, oxy tanks, even my bar b que has one mounted to its base. Overkill? Maybe, but fire SUCKS.
Just as important as owning an extinguisher is also knowing HOW to use it and which ones for the different types of fires.
Glad you're safe. Working in the "disassembly house" I used to dismantle lots of burnt engines. That's a special smell. Unfortunatly some of those came from less fortunate drivers. It was about time to replace all your seals, belts, hoses, and rewire under the hood anyway, right? I'm weird. I'd repaint all but one panel under there. Let one scar remain just to tell the story.
halon extinguishers are the only way to go. That don't leave all the powder all over everything and they really suppress a flame. Just don't inhale, @ 1200 degrees halon morphs into phosgene (mustard gas for those who have studied WWI).
That just happened to my neighbor on a trip around the block in a '56 Ford 2 dr Wagon. Fuel leak at the carb...lost the paint on the hood and left fender, melted the carpet and firewall pad, some wiring and the electric wiper motor and he ended up with a small burn on his arm. Could have been worse, but would have been a lot better if there had been an extinguisher handy. Sadly, lots of people (myself included) get so wound up to take that first ride around the block that they dont think about putting an extinguisher in a car. Fires can happen anytime. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I just read this post yesterday and thought I need to get fire extinguishers for my 54 Chevy and my daily vehicles. Tonight in the grocery store parking lot, the cigarette lighter in the 54 shorted out, got hot enough to melt the knob off the thing and start the wires under the dash on fire. In a panic I pulled the lighter, housing an all out of the dash and used and old T shirt to smother the flames under the dash (the plastic on the wires was burning). I think I was lucky. Tomorrow I buy fire extinguishers!
I was driving my Grandma's '83 bonneville with goat hoof scratches all over it (talk about a barn find!) because I sold my truck to start my business. On the way to practice with my band it caught fire 'cause the cats were backing up. I popped the hood and saw it was really taking off with no way to put it out. So, I started unloading drums as fast as I could...screw the car, drums were worth a lot more! While frantically crashing cymbols out of the backseat, two lesbians stopped, shaking their Figi bottled water out on the engine, and put out the fire. True story!