Cheap fire + first aid gear

[Guinness2702]

Just about clutching at being on-topic, but the following may be of interest. Was in Tesco (Hatfield) tonight, and in their bargains section, they had 600g powder extinguishers for £6, and also fire-blankets and first aid kits. Now I've heard a few people say that these small bottles are barely worth the effort, but it's probably better than nothing at all, and potentially useful if, like me, you are planning on buying a caravan soon, especially with some foreign laws regarding such things.

[HairyDJ]

well spotted - whilst a 600gm might be tiny, it's also very portable and takes up so little space in your boot (or caravan) or even your coat pocket!!

have a think during any training day fire practical in the next few weeks - we play against a good established blaze and can get quite a good knockdown with the first 1-2 second blast, which is probably not far from 600gm? I realise that the tiddlers can't deliver at that rate, but they can have a role to nip it in the bud for little fires.

picked myself up a nice 2kg for a tenner in the bargain bin at costco last year - now part of my rally kit along with the staple gun, hammer etc.

[aland]

600grams too wee, carry a 1kg powder in the caravan. amazingly the clowns at the caravan club are saying powder isnt the best for caravan fire but foam is. now i aint carrying a 15kg foam in my van or even a 10kg as i imagine a 1kg foam would be less than useless

[Guinness2702]

TBH, I'd prefer CO2 for a caravan, 'cus if it's a small fire, your van won't forevermore be contaminated with powder, and if it's so big that it's too much for CO2, then you've probably lost the van anyway.

[JimW]

My choice would be a good foam spray (and a fire blanket for those cooker fires). Not only decent at flames in a small compass but cools wood, plastic etc. and thus helps remove sources of re-ignition. Messy but lots less so than powder.

CO2 in an open area is really a waste of time. The risk (with any fire extinguisher) is that it encourages people to stay and fight a fire instead of putting their safety at top priority (and running away, in case it needs to be said!)

Regards

Jim

[Woolley]

I've already got a water fire-extinguisher in my caravan. The manufacturers call it a shower, but I think that's a bit optimistic. You could probably just about perform a baptism with it.

Besides that I keep a 1kg extinguisher by the door which can be collected on the way out, and I've got another in the boot of the car.

It's predecessor was used on a small engine fire on a car stopped on the A38 on the way home from Donington. Traffic had stopped due to the amount of smoke, and the driver couldn't believe his eyes when two people in orange leapt out, performed an emergency stall on his car (the engine was so hot that switching the ignition off didn't stop it firing) and then popped the bonnet and covered it in powder. I can confirm 1kg did a good job on it. We weren't able to help him come up with an excuse for having borrowed the car without his father's permission. We're good, but not that good!

[Dave Brand]

The best thing for a caravan fire is a gallon of petrol!

[aland]

Originally Posted by Dave Brand

The best thing for a caravan fire is a gallon of petrol!

cheeky Mr B knowing how many of us own caravans as they make very palatial doss holes at racetracks

[PVDA]

I tried to put out a VW Beetle (I know I should've let it burn) with a 1kg dry chem but it was just past the point of being able to put it out with the limited amount of powder I had available.

Must be something about coming home from race meetings as this one was driving home from Sandown.

[Guinness2702]

Originally Posted by JimW

CO2 in an open area is really a waste of time.

Well, I was talking about smallish fires inside the caravan. If it starts burning through and needs to be tackled from the outside, then yes, power or foam would be better, but if it goes that far/big, there's no expectation to save the caravan and at that point to care about how clean/usable it would be at the end of it.

[Daimlerman]

Last time I used a dry powder extinguiser was by accident inside a 1931 Austin 7!!

Still trying to sort out the resultant mess!!

[Terrible-Tones]

Originally Posted by Woolley

performed an emergency stall on his car!

OK That's a new one on me - how do you do that then?

[Woolley]

He'd actually got the key out and the engine was still running so we stuck it in 4th and dropped the clutch which worked.