Fire Extinguishers - Preparing for a Valid Threat

[Snapshot]

Sort of at the confluence of "keep an extinguisher in the vehicle" and "very messy to clean up", what are the recommendations / ideas for keeping an extinguisher available but secure in a regular vehicle?

I have an F150 Supercab (yes with suicide doors), there is a stowage area under the rear seat but it is pretty tight for my 3A-40-B:C extinguisher. I don't want it rolling around back there so right now it is just in the cardboard box it came in, probably not going to survive too long like that.

[Malamute]

...The extinguisher is 3 feet away ...

Kitchens are far and away the #1 cause of house fires.

Something to keep in mind, I was told by a friend that was a firefighter that they sometimes responded to fires where the extinguisher was too close to the fire and couldnt be retrieved and used. Keeping one RIGHT next to the potential fire isnt necessarily a great idea. I tend to keep mine out in the open where they can be seen, and knowing where it is hidden isnt so much an issue.

Ive had them in various places in vehicles, the old Nissan had a nice flat spot with slight curb between the seat and door, a smaller unit laid there nicely on the passenger side. I currently have one leaned against the tunnel on the passenger side against the front of the seat. It needs securing, as it sometimes ends up on the floor. Either a couple D rings with clips screwed to the side of the tunnel to baby bungie it or an elastic tool holder strap screwed to the tunnel is the likely answer for me. I also keep a bear spray there next to it so i can find it when recreating outdoors.

I remembered a friend told me of driving in Mt and coming upon a vehicle fire under the hood, with much attendant freaking out, running in circles, etc. He stopped, his son jumped out with their extinguisher and shot it in under the hood putting it out before it got too far along. Another one of those times when official fire service isnt close to hand, youre on your own.

Used extinguishers. One youtuber showed recharging them with water and compressed air, partly for practice, partly for fun. Not so useful for fires unless maybe a wood or grass fire in the back yard.

[RevolverRob]

Google "Off Road Fire Extinguisher Mount" and "Racecar Fire Extinguisher Mount" and you'll probably find aomething that can work for your particular vehicle.

My wife's car is tiny and the trunk cannot be released from the inside. So, I've gone with a stick-tyoe extinguisher mounted crossways right at the base of the passenger seat. The FJ is huge by comparison. And I have a bigger 2.5 pound extinguisher sitting in the cup holder of the driver's side rear suicide door. The scooter will get a stick.

The two most important things are easy access and security. You really don't want a 2.5-5 pound steel cylinder flying around in your car if you crash. Worse if you crash and then need the extinguisher, it won't help if it isn't where it is supposed to be.

As for locations at home, centrally located is good. We have one mounted to the wall in the kitchen under the light switches. Downstairs, it's mounted to the wall near the furnace closet. In the garage I have it sitting on the floor by the man door.

I really should add another beside my bed. It's an irrational thing but I view it like an evac tool. Open the window and evac but have an extinguisher to keep things at bay while we do it. Paranoid? Maybe, but fuck it.

[TGS]

My wife's car is tiny and the trunk cannot be released from the inside. So, I've gone with a stick-tyoe extinguisher mounted crossways right at the base of the passenger seat.

Can you share pictures of how you mounted the stick? I didn't see any rigid mounts similar to track-car mounts. Did you just velcro it to the base of the seat?

What kind of car does your wife drive, where the trunk can't be released from the inside?

[RevolverRob]

Can you share pictures of how you mounted the stick? I didn't see any rigid mounts similar to track-car mounts. Did you just velcro it to the base of the seat?

What kind of car does your wife drive, where the trunk can't be released from the inside?

I used the included clamp mount and just screwed it to the floor. The way the passenger seat overhangs you can't really hit it with your feet accidentally.

It's a Mazda2. Technically, it's a hatchback. But we have one of those lift up covers that conceals the contents in the trunk. And it seals tight against the hatch. To open the hatch you have to get out and punch the release button on the hatch itself. A very stupid design, in my opinion. There should be a remote release by the driver.

[theJanitor]

What kind of car does your wife drive, where the trunk can't be released from the inside?

I have an S2000 convertible. The trunk release is in a compartment I keep locked. I keep it locked so someone can't just knife the top (which has happened before), and pop the trunk.

Also, if you get a GT3, it'll come with a fire extinguisher under the passenger seat, IIRC. I had to deal with getting that extinguisher here, when I flew my buddy's GT3 here a couple years ago. the air cargo company wouldn't allow it

[RoyGBiv]

The powder is quite obnoxious. I had an extinguisher go off in the back of a '91 Caprice sheriff's car. What a mess. The worst part of it was it was another deputy's assigned vehicle while mine was in the shop.

I can concur.

Took me 2x 5-lb extinguishers to put down an alternator fire in an F-150 years ago. Thankfully we had one mounted in the cab. It knocked down the fire enough to see what was burning (the plastic electrical connector and whatever was inside that it was connected to). I grabbed the second extinguisher from inside the house, along with the phone to dial 911. Was able to pull out the connector and put out both small fires (inside the alt and the connector) while I had 911 on the phone.

Took me a week to quit coughing. You don't want to inhale that stuff if you can avoid it. Under the truck hood wasn't fun.

We use the refillable 15(?) pound water tanks as trainers, together with a propane "fire trainer". I'll defer to the fire dogs but I think the use case for those in actual fire protection is quite limited. There's a lot of thing that burn around the house that you probably don't want to put water on or into. And re-pressurizing them (the ones we use hold enough water for 2-3 pressure charges) takes longer than you want to be around a house fire for if you have other choices. Run to garage, turn on compressor, wait for it to pressurize, air up extinguisher, run back to fire. Not a good plan. YMMV.

[TGS]

I'll defer to the fire dogs but I think the use case for those in actual fire protection is quite limited. There's a lot of thing that burn around the house that you probably don't want to put water on or into. And re-pressurizing them (the ones we use hold enough water for 2-3 pressure charges) takes longer than you want to be around a house fire for if you have other choices. Run to garage, turn on compressor, wait for it to pressurize, air up extinguisher, run back to fire. Not a good plan. YMMV.

Not a fireman. I took a 1 week course with FDNY and they had us practice stuff about using water extinguishers to knock down the heat just enough to extend your search time as opposed to actually trying to put out the fire. I think there's uses, but it might be better left to people who've trained on it.

[RevolverRob]

Can you share pictures of how you mounted the stick? I didn't see any rigid mounts similar to track-car mounts. Did you just velcro it to the base of the seat?

What kind of car does your wife drive, where the trunk can't be released from the inside?

Did you see this: https://www.amazon.com/Bracketeer-Ex...29716300&psc=1

No experience with it, but might work for a P-car.

[TGS]

Did you see this: https://www.amazon.com/Bracketeer-Ex...29716300&psc=1

No experience with it, but might work for a P-car.

I've seen a lot of mounts for Porsches, but not that one in particular. Regular extinguisher mounts are readily available all over any of the P-car sites.

I'm not looking to put a full extinguisher in it for what I would call daily driver reasons.

Just thinking about how I could mount the sticks you posted in particular, I don't imagine most typical extinguisher mounts would work for those purposes. I'm thinking that if the provided plastic mount doesn't interface well, I could literally just velcro it down at the base of the seat. Or, just throw it in the door pockets which actually latch shut like a woman's clutch, which is pretty awesome for the purposes of keeping stuff safely stowed.