So the other week, I had to use my Halon fire extinguisher to put out an electrical fire on a friend's truck. Now I need to replace the extinguisher, and am looking for some advice from someone who is knowledgable about fire fighting.


First -- I liked Halon since there is no clean up after use, it is very effective for electrical fires, and it can actually be used in an engine compartment by spraying under the hood without opening the hood (this eliminates flare-ups in the face when opening the hood to use a dry chem). The problem is, they are generally no longer available.

So now I am in a bit of a quandry as to what to get. It seems that Halotron has replace Halon, but I don't know a lot about it. It looks like it should be good on electrical, but I am not sure about it on flammable liquids. It looks like has some drawbacks. First, it is expensive. Second, it looks like it might be fairly ineffective on even a small fire of combustable material. I don't know if is usable in an engine compartment without opening the hood, like you could do with Halon. If it can handle a small combustable and a flammable liquid fire, I might be inclined to get a 2 1/2 (or even a 5) lb Halotron extinguisher as my only one in the truck.

Dry Chem is a good all around extinguisher. It is relatively inexpensive, too. But it leaves a real mess and is corrosive to electircal wiring. (I don't want to have to replace a wiring harness if I can avoid it). Also, I have no idea as to the appropriate size for use in an offroading truck -- 5 lb or 10 lb. I am not too keen on carrying two fire bottles in the truck I get one in addition to a Halotron, as it will take up a bit of space.

Does anyone here have firefighting training, or more knowledge about fire extinguishers, and have any thoughts?

k_enn

All fire extinguishers use a rating system. Type A fires are flammable solids (wood, paper, etc.), Type B fires are flammable liquids, Type C fires are electrical, and Type D fires are flammable metals (Magnesium). Me and Robby both carry 2 1/2lb BC rated dry chem extinguishers in our Jeeps.

a good b/c will do fine. halon is still available, but only for areas with sensitive equipment, so it's probably gonna be spendy if you can get it. a dry chemicle will work, but you'll need to hose it off as soon as possible to avoid the corrosive effects. this thread reminds me that my fire extinguisher training is coming up again, soon. kinda funny actually, i work in a building that's water and electric.