Powder Fire Extinguishers & Automobiles
The summer holiday of a family from Southland was very nearly ruined before it started as their car caught fire en route to the airport at Queenstown. Luckily for them a local fire fighter from Lumsden intervened and even ended up giving the family a lift to the airport. The fire started in the engine and other drivers who were passing by stopped and used their own fire extinguishers to help tackle the blaze and put it out after bringing it under control.
Thanks to the swift intervention of the other drivers and the local fire service, the family was able to make it to the airport on time and go on their summer vacation. Sadly the car was beyond repair but nobody was hurt and that is the most important factor.
The fire fighters who attended the scene commented that all cars should carry a fire extinguisher. Most commercial vehicles do have at least one extinguisher fitted by law, but it’s quite a rarity to see them installed in domestic cars and vans. The simple fact of life is that whilst car accidents and fire’s are thankfully extremely rare, they do happen and the simple use of an extinguisher could save lives, and cause far less damage to the vehicle and its surroundings.
So what exactly is the correct extinguisher to place in a car? Should it be small or large? Well the size of the vehicle will dictate the size of the extinguisher. A standard family car only needs one to be fitted and anywhere from 0.6kg to 1kg in weight should suffice. For a larger vehicle such as a van or small truck then you could go up in size to something around 2kg in weight.
And what is going to be the most effective model of extinguisher? Well certainly not foam or water as all cars have electrical components now days and those particular extinguishing agents would react violently with the burning oil and petrol fuels. The best model to install would be a powder extinguisher as this can be safely used on various classes of fire such as material, wood, plastics, oil, diesel and petrol as well as electrical fires.
The most important factor though is to get everyone out of the burning vehicle quickly and move them to a safe distance of at least a hundred meters away in-case the car explodes. on tackle the blaze if you are confident in the use of an extinguisher. if the fire is already too intense simply run as fast as possible to the safe distance and await the fire service to arrive and tackle the fire.
