I had a fire take out my old civic. It was a small fire, barely even damaged the paint, and it made the car unrepairable. What happened was that the fire burned the wiring, and then the extinguisher (dry chemical) corroded what was left of the wiring so badly that it made it essentially unrepairable.

If you want something that will set your mind at ease, you might want to try something along the lines of an installed fire system in the car.

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/advcat.as...yID=FIRESYSTEMS
http://www.safecraft.com/MinstalledExtinguisher.asp
http://www.firebottleracing.com/The%20Facts.htm

 

I got mine from Pegasus.

 

guys, I have to say that the trunk is a HORRIBLE place to mount a fire extinguisher, It will take you atleast 15 seconds to get out and get the extinguisher from the trunk, oh and then since you are so messed up anyway since your car is on fire you've forgotten to open the hood, so it's got to be 20 seconds before you are putting a fire out, could be done in ten with the bottle under your legs...

why not behind the cross member (behind your legs) in front of the drivers seat?

 

The car I was spraying was engulfed in flames.

It was an illegal's car and full of their possessions. They had left it running (unattended) to warm up.

Windows were blowing out and it was melting the cars around it.

I wasn't sure if anyone was in the car, so I ran out with my little fire extinguisher.

I was really surprised at how little spray time there was in the can. It was empty in seconds.

Jeez, S2k is FULL of know-it-alls lately.

The forums are "dead" lately and the people posting are bigger and bigger A-holes.

Thank you for helping me to cure my previous S2k addiction. I think it's nearly time to get the fck out of dodge.

 

^^^
great comments!
but you need to realise that a car that is engulfed in flames is well beyond the useful point of your extinguisher,

wtf were you trying to save?

 

iam interested too
nice topic Spec_Ops2087
i had a bad experience before 3 years that some wiring in the engine bay got on fire . (not my s2k)
the car stoped because there was a damage in the engine and when i opened the hood i noticed a small flame on some wires.
it was like a candle .
i didnt have anything to quench the fire so
i started blowing and spiting
believe it or not , i was lucky and i took out the fire

 

There were flames coming out of the car and I couldn't see if there was someone in the driver's seat.

I was not trying to put out the fire as much as trying to see if someone was trapped inside. So I directed the extinguisher only at the seat through the window to try and get a better look. I didn't want to be like all the other gawking neighbors... just standing around while someone burnt to a crisp.

As the extinguisher ran out, I thought: "Damn, I'm glad I didn't have to actually extinguish anything."

Hence the extrapolation of "useless" in anything but a tiny, slow fire.

And heck. For something like that... I'd just pee on it.

 

You ask what is the best type of fire extinguisher to put out oil/fuel fires. That would be a class B fire extinguisher (Look for the B on the extingusher) which should be used on fires involving flammable liquids, such as grease, gasoline, oil, etc. The numerical rating for this class of fire extinguisher states the approximate number of square feet of a flammable liquid fire that a non-expert person can expect to extinguish.

Halon can be used also. Halon extinguishers contain a gas that interrupts the chemical reaction that takes place when fuels burn. These types of extinguishers are often used to protect valuable electrical equipment since them leave no residue to clean up. The problem with Halon extinguishers is they have a limited range, usually 4 to 6 feet. The initial application of Halon should be made at the base of the fire, even after the flames have been extinguished.

The proper was to use ANY extinguisher is using the P-A-S-S method. Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep. Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Sqeeze the handle and it will discharge, Sweep the noozle back and forth at the base of the fire.

Hope you find this helpful and this is how I use extinguishers and how I am taught in the fire service. Take care everyone.

 

Halon it is then!

 

It is what I would use for your setup. Make sure you dial 911 before you start fighting that fire though lol. Or while you are fighting it I should say.