Fire Extinguisher

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(grasshopper @ May 8 2006, 02:47 PM) [snapback]251647[/snapback]</div>

If any of my cars catch on fire I'm getting all the occupants out and then standing back and watching it burn. IMO it's too much risk to try and put out a fire on my own.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(San_Carlos_Jeff @ May 8 2006, 01:06 PM) [snapback]251656[/snapback]</div>

Grasshopper and Jeff bring up a very interesting point, though...none of us have seen a hybrid battery burn (at least I havent!). We don't know how that fire would spread. Would it overcome the people in the rear seat, since that is where the battery vent is? Or would it just cook the entire interior until it got to a flashpoint, at which time neither an extinguisher or even getting out is going to do much good. How do we deal with the potential fire hazards of that battery, if it decides to burn for some reason?

 

Since I can't offer any technical advice on how likely or even possible it would be for the battery to burst into flames, I'll just share Jeff's sentiment and "let it burn..."

My guess is that the extinguisher will probably do more harm than good. It would be quite difficult to even reach the source of the fire (hot battery), what with the upholstery on fire and all, without risking serious injury or death. Don't forget the 200 volts you may encounter, as well. No, I'd probably just get everyone out and grab my cell phone to call the real firefighters.

Of course, I suspect the scenario is highly, highly unlikely to occur.

 

Exposed disc brakes on the exterior of the car are one thing - sure, it would be relatively safe to take a fire extinguisher and knock out the fire. Concealed fire in the battery area within the interior of the car? That's another story.

That said, this thread reminds me that I should probably carry a small fire extinguisher somwhere in my Prius, along with a blanket, water, first aid kit, road flares, etc.

 

I keep a 2.5 lb. halon extinguisher in the cargo area. It's not much, but it would wipe out a small fire easily and won't make a big mess like a dry chemical would.

 

I'd let nature take it's course... Unless I thought I had a shot at getting the gas cap off without being involved in the explosion.

Once it's on fire and everyone is out... I'm hoping it is nothing left but ashes and steel by the time the fire truck arrives.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(grasshopper @ May 8 2006, 02:36 PM) [snapback]251730[/snapback]</div>

Given the Prius' tiny engine compartment and hood, opening it could place you in great danger. You'd be standing close to the burning engine after providing a sudden burst of combustion air to the fire. You surely wouldn't want to spend any time attaching the hood brace to keep it open.

As for the HV battery, I'm sure there would be warning lights, smoke, fumes, or obvious heat long before flame.

 

my first priority is getting myself and my passengers out of the car (and yes, my laptop with all my papers and stuff on it counts as a passenger )

after that... well that's what insurance is for. which reminds me, i should officially document my mods just in case...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(grasshopper @ May 8 2006, 05:26 PM) [snapback]251719[/snapback]</div>

Are you a firefighter?????

I don't think I've even SEEN five car fires, let alone been involved in them.

In my life (I'm 37), I have only had one friend that had a car fire. Granted, he would have probably appreciated having a fire extinguisher, but he did what most people on this thread said they would go- got out and got away.

 

I believe there have been 2 Prius HV battery fires. I would be letting those burn and viewing from a safe distance. That said, the bicarbonate in plain old dry chemical extinguishers might come in handy whether you are confronted with potassium hydroxide from the big battery, or sulfuric acid from the little one.

I carry such an extinguisher in the trunk of a 2001 Prius, strictly from force of habit. The most likely vehicle use for it would be to help some other car, assuming that the fire could be approached safely.

 

We had an engine compartment fire once. We were going down the interstate and noticed a lot of smoke coming out from under the hood. Expecting only a radiater leak, we stopped and popped the hood, to find a fire. We had a fire extinguisher in the trunk and promptly extinguished the fire. A leaking gas line had dripped gas on the hot engine block, which had finally ignited. The fire had burned a hole in a radiator hose, which is where all the smoke had come from. We were very lucky. Just as I finished putting out the fire a passing tow truck saw us and stopped, and gave us a tow. Total damage was one radiater hose and one gas line hose, plus tow. I have always made sure to have a fire extinguisher since. I haven't got my Prius yet, so I'm interested in where you decide to keep it. The arguments against having a fire extinguisher seem to revolve around it being inadequate to combat a catastrophic fire. Most fires start small, and if you can stop them early then you can get by with little or no damage.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ May 9 2006, 09:20 AM) [snapback]252170[/snapback]</div>

Bicarbonate would be good to neutralize acid from a standard battery, as you say. But the large battery's potassium hydroxide is a strong alkali, which wouldn't benefit from the alkaline bicarbonate. Halon would be safer and perhaps more appropriate for both types of fires.

Besides, I don't think it would be easy to deliver the extinguisher chemical onto the HV battery. Here again, we'd be opening the hatch, breathing fumes while tearing apart the cargo area to get to the battery fire.

 

Plymouth TC3, hitting 100,001 miles. Started running bad so I pulled into a gas station next to their pumps. Got out and noticed a red glow from looking under the engine compartment. Started saying, "FIRE." Put the car in N and pushed it away from the pumps, then got the cat out from the back seat. In the mean time I told my mom to go to the station attendant and get a fire extinguisher. She came back and said he wouldn't let her use one. So then I tried to open the hood. Luckily by that time the latch cable had melted and I couldn't open it, or we would have had a roaring fire. But the bad news was that the starter had shorted and was now cranking the engine, with the resulting gasoline pump putting fuel up to the engine. The smoke had started coming out of the engine compartment and drifting out to the street. Somebody came running up to me and gave me a fire extinguisher. I crouched down and sprayed by the wheel up into the engine compartment and up by the firewall. The extinguisher was empty in two seconds. But it slowed the fire down slightly. Somebody gave me another one from a restaurant next door and I used that too. It was a better one, and they wouldn't even accept repayment for it!

The fire truck rolled up, the guys jumped out. By then smoke was billowing out so bad the cars were stopped on the street. Pry bar rammed under the hood and the hood was up in two seconds, the hoses were spraying water within another second, and the fire was out within a minute. Those guys were spectacular to watch.

Of course, the car's fate was sealed. Everything inside stunk, the engine was destroyed, the front end was fried. The bad thing was that I had spent about $400 getting it ready to paint. I also figured if the engine ever quit it could be made into an electric car, which apparently some company did.

But that isn't the end of the story. During the "Fire Prevention Week" my mom and I went and picketed in front of the gas station. People honked and talked to us. The "big guy" from Chicago came out to hear what had happened. And he agreed that things should have been done differently and gave us a check to help with the loss of the car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(grasshopper @ May 8 2006, 02:26 PM) [snapback]251719[/snapback]</div>

LOL, Burn baby burn. Let it go. It's not worth the risk. They will probably total it anyway. If I had 2 TVs that caught fire I would stop watching TV for the rest of my life. Are you living life on the edge like Kiefer Suttherland on 24 or something?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(San_Carlos_Jeff @ May 8 2006, 04:06 PM) [snapback]251656[/snapback]</div>

Some of you guys are nutz :blink: Carry a fire extinguisher in your car??? On my boat yes? I have 4. If a fire breaks out 20 miles off the coast your kinda screwed. If any of my cars would catch fire, I along with my passangers are bailing out and getting a few hundred feet away. I tried to put out an engine fire once on the PA Turnpike about 15 years ago. My eyebrows have not been the same since