View Full Version : MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER
Today was my lucky day, my very very very lucky day. I was at the builders merchants loading my Anglia up with crap and when I went to start it up to leave a Weber spat back and caught fire. In no time at all I had a pretty serious fire under the bonnet, which I couldn't get open fast enough because of dzus fasteners, a fuel line then burned through, fire-balled, and it went right up.
LUCKILY a bloke in a truck pulled up and he had a fire extinguisher in the cab and apart from some singed paint and a bit of powder skank the car is ok. I managed to patch the fuel line and bodge the melted throttle cable and get it home by itself.
MAKE SURE YOU GET A FIRE EXTINGUISHER. IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU.
They are about £12 delivered from eBay so that means there are no excuses, go and buy one now. I NEARLY lost the car I had spent 5 years building, I DO NOT want it to happen to you!!!
Picture of what was nearly destroyed:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/anglia/2009-02-17-insurance/IMG_3645.JPG
Blighter
15-04-2009, 21:22
Bloody hell mate, close call! Glad you are ok.
Apart from some hair burned off one hand I'm fine. I seem to attract fire balls this month :(
Justsomebloke
15-04-2009, 21:48
Glad you saved the Angle box mate, I got an extinguisher with the camper, A blue one on the side of the drivers seat. :cool:
I've got AFFF in the track car because MSA regs say I have to carry one even though it's apparently not going to do a great deal to save the car should I ever need it. From what I've read it's basically good enough to make sure I get out of the car alive but if you get a proper fire going you really need powder to put it out.
It was a small powder extinguisher and I can verify it's VERY good at putting fires out.
I need to put the one I had in Minnesota in the Jeep. Tina has one in her boot in the Neon, even though I don't think she'd remember it was there or even how to use it.
The one I have for the Jeep is an 18 pound dry chem. You can pick them up at any home improvement store.
Good to hear the guy stopped to help you out. Did you offer to replace his extinguisher? Especially good to hear both you and the Anglia are doing good.
I did but he refused. He said his work paid for things like that.
Bloody hell :( Glad he was around to help.
Ouch!
Have always considered getting one but never thought it needed really. I do have a first aid kit though.
lucky escape, it's something I've been meaning to buy for ages.
Ouch!
Have always considered getting one but never thought it needed really. I do have a first aid kit though.
Whether you 'need' one or not very much depends on how much you care about your car. If it's something easily replaceable then you are probably just as well getting out, keeping out of the way and watching it burn whilst you think about what to spend the insurance money on. If it's something like the Anglia then it's really a good idea to carry one.
Whether you 'need' one or not very much depends on how much you care about your car. If it's something easily replaceable then you are probably just as well getting out, keeping out of the way and watching it burn whilst you think about what to spend the insurance money on. If it's something like the Anglia then it's really a good idea to carry one.
Well yeah you're right. I guess what I am thinking of is the sort of plumbed-in system that will really kill any fires quickly. I doubted a hand-held one could really stop an engine bay fire unless it was in its infantcy so just discounted the thought of it. Obviously on that score I have been proven quite wrong by this thread and I may well keep an eye out for a reasonably neat powder extinguisher to keep in the car :)
Lidl have them for £6.35
is this a special offer, or do they usually have them?
It's one of their offers with some other car gear, don't normally see them in there.
Most home improvement stores will carry them as well for the kitchen. Anything that's rated for grease cooking fires will work fab on an engine fire.
My problem with getting a fire extinguisher is where to put it. Don't really want it rattling around in the boot.
Then again, I drive a company car so if it goes up in smoke I'll get another one - result!
Do you need one to drive in certain countries?
The powder ones are small enough to stuff in the back pocket on the seat or in the glove box. But yeah, if it's not your car or you don't really care about it then there's not much point bothering.
Well it's not that I don't care and I'd have a hard time standing back and watching it burn but it's not quite the same as when you own and insure it yourself. All I'd have is a bit of emotional pain as it goes up in flames but ultimately I'd get a brand new car with no financial penalty at all :)
Off to France in June and wondering if I'm obliged to carry one over there.
My problem with getting a fire extinguisher is where to put it. Don't really want it rattling around in the boot.
Then again, I drive a company car so if it goes up in smoke I'll get another one - result!
Do you need one to drive in certain countries?
Same here, if my car goes up, the company insurance will sort it.
When I had my older Jeep I had two Halon ones. They were rather small for what they did (think 3 "D" cell batteries on end) but apparently they work quite well.
I haven't seen them for sale in ages, though.
Halon isn't made any more because it's not too good for the environment apparently.
volospian
15-05-2009, 08:32
It's a good piece of advice there, Mr 69. I had an extinguisher in the Cerb, although in my scariest moment I doubt it would have had much effect.
I was driving to the gym one day, me and the missus. I live about 10 miles maybe from the gym and I need to drive up the A42 to the M1 J24 (Hilton Hotel). As I was pulling onto the A42 from Ashby I mentioned to the missus that I thought I could smell fuel. Anyway, the smell persisted all the way up the A42, 5 or 6 miles. We left the M1 at the slip road, and as we turned into the hotel car park I said "Jesus, I can really smell fuel now...." I pulled into the first parking bay, and, with the engine running to keep the fuel pressure up I popped the bonnet, and nearly pooped my pants.
The Cerb has a "fuel cooler" system that utilises the air con system to chill the fuel. A nice idea, but to get to it TVR route the fuel pipes down the engine vee under the fuel rail. The send pipe had split and was pumping fuel all over the engine. Needless to say I cut the engine sharpish and thanked god that nothing had sparked. Oh, and in case you don't think it was dangerous enough, the alternator also lives in the vee of the AJP engine, powered by a jackshaft running back from the crank pulley, and that too was getting a liberal spraying with warm fuel.
From reading the Cerb forums, splitting fuel lines seems a fairly common issue with them. It's no surprise that several have ended their lives as a fireball on the hard shoulder, lol:D
Holy cow, that was a close call :shocked:
Good to see you over this way too old chap :D
volospian
15-05-2009, 14:07
lol, I don't think the wife actually went in the car again after that :D
The one and only time I ever needed a fire extinguisher wasn't even in my car - it was my brother's. He had a 1974 Ford Pinto (quell the snickering, you until you hear the rest) with a 4 bolt main 302 punched out. I don't know how far he went with it, but let's say there wasn't a whole hell of a lot of cylinder wall left before hitting the water jacket. He then put an extremely lumpy cam in it, some Mustang heads, Hooker headers, the works. This thing fired up sounding like a top fuel dragster funny car. He managed to squeeze a Ford C6 transmission from an F350 (1 ton) pickup behind it and stuffed a Galaxy 500's axle in the rear.
This thing had absolutely NO trouble slapping your head into the headrests all the way through 100mph, but like most American cars, couldn't corner if you put bow thrusters on it.
Anyways, we were out doing test runs to make sure everything was working good. He had on a double length of flexible exhaust tubing temporarily in place. It was basically hung with metal coat hangers and plumber's tape. Well, one of the ends dropped out of the loop of the coat hanger, banged on the ground and slapped into the bottom of the fuel tank (he hadn't gotten to putting in the fuel cell yet). The exhaust pipe ripped a 2" gash in the bottom of the tank and then started dragging on the ground again, letting out copious amounts of sparks that we could see even in bright daylight - 4" back from where the long puddle of petrol was forming under the moving car.
Ever seen a lanky 14yr old kid clambering across the roof of a moving car that's shaped like an egg, fire extinguisher in hand trying his best to point it at the flames? Luckily the tank ran out of petrol before anything serious could happen (including me falling on my noggin on the road at 40-60mph).
Still scary as **** when you picture the petrol doing the final scene from Die Hard 2!!
:eek: sounds amazing Darrin!
Volospian and I share a near-miss there. I was doing a ridiculous speed down the motorway and could smell fuel - soon afterwards I was parked up and the smell was hurting my eyes so I knew it wasnt transfer from my shoes it had to be a leak - opened the bonnet and the fuel return pipe had perished right at the end of the injector rail (after it bends back to point back down the engine) and was hosing fuel all over my engine / alternator / oil filter etc. THANKFULLY the engine layout in the 6cyl BMWs is to lay the engine over on its side, so that the exhaust manifold is "on top" on the opposide side where the fuel rail is, so the fuel went all over the cold side of the engine.
Scary times.
I've heard it said that your more likely to use you extinguisher to help somebody else than on your own car, still a good reason to carry one though.
Not got one myself, I think if mine went up i'd step happily to one side and let it go, mind you, its a diesel so i'd probably have to throw some wood on too to keep it going.
I was always told never to open the bonnet when there was an engine fire. I used to carry one in my first car, but haven't bothered since. I really should get around to getting one though.
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