I saw one of these burning today in San Antonio, Texas...

[69Charger_440]

I was on my way to work today and I saw a '71, like the one above, burning near the San Antonio airport on the eastbound lane of I-410.  I guess the poor dude did not have a fire extinguisher.  The whole engine compartment was engulfed in flames.  The weird thing was that a P.O. was right in back of him.  I thought that they carried a fire extinguisher?  I guess he figured it wouldn't do much good.  So anyhow, what type of fire extinguishers do you guys carry?

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

I came across a burnt out hulk of a 1969 Dodge Charger (sorry, no VIN left) and the engine was already picked out of the car! It was 30 miles west of Detroit, some time in 1995 or 96... Sad, but true... Torque convertor was even gone 

[69bronzeT5]

Was leaving a Mopar show in Everett, WA back in June with my Duster and right down the street there was a primered '69-'70 Nova in the middle of the road with smoke spewing out of the engine compartment and flames starting to show under the car. Fire department was showing up just as I drove by.

[flyinlow]

I have a Kidde 1A10BC Dry chemical in the trunk in a quick pull rack.

Change flexible fuel lines every two years. Keep the non hard lines as short as possible. Change out Ignition wires at the first sign of deterioration. Coated headers run much cooler.   

[Brock Samson]

this 

[DC_1]

I saw this one go up last summer

[Brock Lee]

There was evidence my car had an engine fire once. The insulation was gone and there was blistered paint under overspray.

[Chryco Psycho]

My first Charger , a 70 R/T 440 4spd , I had disassembled it to do a full resto on it , I sent it to a friends place to get the body work done & get it into Epoxy primer & some punk lit a fire in his propane fueled pick up parked 18" away in front of the garage door , the heat was enough to droop the hood over the rad wall , he had a lot of stuff stored in the attic & when the roof collapsed it crushed in the roof of the car below the top of the doors  , nothing was savable , we hooked a chain onto it to pull it out & the chain tore trough the metal like it was tin foil . This all happened around 1998 .

[tan top]

 aww noo , thats never a good site to see !!

My first Charger , a 70 R/T 440 4spd , I had disassembled it to do a full resto on it , I sent it to a friends place to get the body work done & get it into Epoxy primer & some punk lit a fire in his propane fueled pick up parked 18" away in front of the garage door , the heat was enough to droop the hood over the rad wall , he had a lot of stuff stored in the attic & when the roof collapsed it crushed in the roof of the car below the top of the doors  , nothing was savable , we hooked a chain onto it to pull it out & the chain tore trough the metal like it was tin foil . This all happened around 1998 .

yikes thats a bummer  


thats an interesting picture  Brock !!  looks like early 70s    68 charger ?? wonder how that happened   

[Charger_Dart]

I carry a Halon type extinguisher in the trunks of my cars. I read they are good for automotive & boat fires and are non-corrosive - easy to clean up also. Hope I never find out 

[68X426]

So anyhow, what type of fire extinguishers do you guys carry?

Halon (Halotron I). It's the only one you want to use.  http://halotron.com/halotron1.php

I carry two, one mounted in reat seat corner (5 pounder), one in the trunk (2.5 pounds, stainless steel, it goes to the engine compartment for shows).

BEST investments that I hope to never use.

[flyinlow]

Maybe Ron will chime in and tell us which extinguishers work best on an engine fire.

[Johnny SixPack]

So anyhow, what type of fire extinguishers do you guys carry?

Halon (Halotron I). It's the only one you want to use.  http://halotron.com/halotron1.php

I carry two, one mounted in reat seat corner (5 pounder), one in the trunk (2.5 pounds, stainless steel, it goes to the engine compartment for shows).

BEST investments that I hope to never use.

Good plan! 

[69Charger_440]

So anyhow, what type of fire extinguishers do you guys carry?

Halon (Halotron I). It's the only one you want to use.  http://halotron.com/halotron1.php

I carry two, one mounted in reat seat corner (5 pounder), one in the trunk (2.5 pounds, stainless steel, it goes to the engine compartment for shows).

BEST investments that I hope to never use.

"I carry a Halon type extinguisher in the trunks of my cars. I read they are good for automotive & boat fires and are non-corrosive - easy to clean up also. Hope I never find out  rotz"

Once I get my cars running I will be carrying two in each car.  I'd rather trash and lose the whole engine than lose the whole car.  However, neither car runs right now so I don't have to worry about that right now. 

[bordin34]

Had to use mine once, fuel line leak. Flames were licking out of the hood when I opened it. I managed to put it out with the extinguisher you see in the pic, dry chemical type. Only damage was to the fuel line and distributor

[mauve66]

halon won't screw the engine like chemicals will, especially it the carb get partially uncovered by a backfire or something, you don't want the chemical fire ext going down the carb

[68X426]

Maybe Ron will chime in and tell us which extinguishers work best on an engine fire.

http://halotron.com/testing.php

http://halotron.com/technical_info.php

[flyinlow]

I had to use a small dry chemical once. Put the gasoline leak engine fire out in one swipe. Makes a mess.

I work for an Airline and we have to train with the Halon extinguishers on small flammable liquid fires. I believe the Halon gas generates a small amount of toxic gas in the presence of an open flame, like freon does. We wear Smoke hoods with their own oxygen generators if we have to fight a fire. Both the CO2 and halon absorb heat as they change from a high pressure liquid to a low pressure gas coming out of the nozzle. Great for extinguishing to fire, can be dangerous to you eyes. It can freeze them and when they thaw they don't work right. Be carefull with them.

[Magnumcharger]

I worked on Bell Helicopters for years.
They use Halon bottles as part of the engine fire extinguishment system.
Because Jet engines also supply pressurized (bleed) air to the cabin, when the Halon suppression system is armed and fired, a divergent valve is initiated which keeps the Halon from going through the engine and into the cabin.

This safety feature keeps people isolated from the potentially lethal effects of the Halon gas.

[Back N Black]

I worked on Bell Helicopters for years.
They use Halon bottles as part of the engine fire extinguishment system.
Because Jet engines also supply pressurized (bleed) air to the cabin, when the Halon suppression system is armed and fired, a divergent valve is initiated which keeps the Halon from going through the engine and into the cabin.

This safety feature keeps people isolated from the potentially lethal effects of the Halon gas.

Robin, we use the same system in the LAV III and coyote's.

[flyinlow]

I thought about using a delivery spray rack similar to what an aircraft engine uses. A couple feet of copper tubing to spray the engine from a wheelwell or by the hidden wipers on 3rd gens. or from the grill.  You could suppress the fire without having to wait to get the hood up. I have a fiberglass hood that is pinned, that might be an advantage.  Dedicated fire bottles with squibs would be cool. Plus it would freak the tuners out at cruise in's.     

[64dartgt]

I always carry a small ABC extinguisher in my 64 Dart.  Got to get one for the Charger.

By the way...#1 rule of an engine fire...get the extinquisher and THEN open the hood.

[mauve66]

DON'T open the hood, spray THROUGH the radiator, opening the hood only lets in more air for combustion

[crusty440]

I carry a warm can of beer

[bordin34]

There is no way I would have been able to put out my fire by spraying through the radiator. It was a pressurized fuel leak by the distributor.