We have all talked about it here before. I kept meaning to put an ext. in the 54. So today I splurged for the 15 bucks and put one in the car. It was easy, didnt hurt at all . I got thinking about this a couple weeks back as I drove by a truck on fire with nothing to help him with. We have had a couple folks here catch their rides on fire, I guess it can happen anytime. Only now, I am ready.
it's one of those murphy's law things,if you have a fire extinguisher you'll never need it,but woe unto those who don't have one! that reminds me,i need to fix my wiring...
Also, it needs to be INSIDE the car within easy reach. Takes a while to open up the truck and search for one that might have rolled underneath something. Trust me, I know from experience.
I used to work for a guy that had his in the trunk next to the greasy rags and he has the fuel pump in the trunk too.
A fire extinguishers is a good idea. Make sure you can get to it in the event of a fire and also make sure you can get to the fire. This poor bastard almost lost his car at Louisville in '02. The hood sides were just flat pieces of sheetmetal that were screwed on with slotted head machine screws about 2" long. When the engine caught fire not only did he not have a fire extinguisher, he didn't have a screwdriver handy either. He was saved by several good Samaritans grabbing their fire extinguishers and spraying them through the grille/radiator and reaching up under the car and spraying the engine from the bottom.
I keep an extinguisher in all my cars. Quick funny story: I was driving the Clubbed Wagoon, and a jerk cut me off one rainy night. He slammed on his brakes tomake an illegal left turn. I slammed on my brakes, and the fire extinguisher slid forward from under the seat, pin fell out and the handle hit my heel. Powder shot everywhere. That junk tastes terrible! The offender never even acknowledged me -- who came within inches of his bumper. I should have thrown the empty extinguisher through his window.
[ QUOTE ] The hood sides were just flat pieces of sheetmetal that were screwed on with slotted head machine screws about 2" long [/ QUOTE ] Dzus! He was lucky. Makes ya feel kinda funny to be driving around with an empty extinguisher after you put out somebody else's fire cuz they didn't have an extinguisher. I probably ought to put a second one in the trunk. A battery cutoff switch is a pretty good idea as well. Did save my Olds powered 50 Ford coupe a couple weeks after it was up and running. A forgotten rag got into the headers, oil weepage from the filter caught and it was going pretty good. Extinguisher knocked it out with no problem. Kinda funny though, I was letting my buddy drive the car and I saw a steady flash on the right side as we were going down the highway. I said, "Turn off the turn signal." He said, "You don't have turn signals." The light dawned -- in more ways than one....
I hear you on that, yorgatron.... that's usually how it ends up working, but safe then sorry, ya know. I've carried one in all my cars since my '64 backfired and set it's self on fire.
It's also wise to keep a fire extinguisher in the shop. Either next to the workbench or next to the door where you'd typically enter the shop.
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