Fire Protection: Extinguishers: Dry, Halotron, CO2, Element Stick, Blankets, etc... what are you carrying?

What are you carrying for fire? Or not a concern?

I've always installed quick disconnects and ABC Dry Extinguishers.
I've been rethinking that after seeing a few fires put out (not mine): Interior under dash, engine bay. Both incidents saved but expensive problematic repairs. The clean up and repair due to 1) Fire, 2) Dry Chemical. The Dry chemical can be very damaging to Under dash electronics, and Engine bay electronics.

The Halotron option is clean, quick and no damage other than the fire damage. So much easier to recover, especially interior with Halotron.
But the Halotron 10lb is $600-800 per bottle, 5lb $400-500... very pricey to carry.
I considered CO2, but tank weight & size isn't practical for vehicle.

In my F450, I normally carry 2 ABC Dry 10lb: 3-A,40-BC: 1 mounted in box near tailgate and cab mounted on floor in ft of Rear seat on quick release.
I've been rethinking the Dry Chemical: leaning to get 2 Halotron, mount in both Cabs (F450 & Bronco), and mount the 2 ABC Dry in F450's Box & Bronco's 2nd Roll bar mount. That would handle the spread... could use Dry on exterior (camp site, etc), under chassis, engine bay... and Halotron Interior & engine bay.
But that's a big investment in fire protection to ride along and expire out in time.

I looked at the Element Sticks.. those are questionable in performance to me.
Recently took a harder look at Fire Blankets, those have an appeal for several uses: engine bay, camp, etc.
These can be reusable to, if not overly damaged. Exp: Throwing over an out of control camp fire doesn't damage the blanket.

Fire Blankets seem to be a good option to carry in vehicles and store in home kitchen. They're quick to deploy, effective and can be used as a fire wrap to escape (House or RV).

I'm also a believer in quality Medic Paks; I carry Field Medic Paks with extra tourniquets, chest patch & bleed stop wraps & bags. The Molly panels on back of Seats are great to mount a grab-no-go medic pak. Not a useless bandaid & tape first aid kit, Medic Paks for true injury. Maybe little overboard, probably a little carry over from Military days to be prepared.

What's being used and how/where mounted in the community?

Add on... another product I was examining. These are new but have appeal, especially if not present when a fire starts in exp: engine bay.

Ferosticker, stick on, self activated:

https://ferosticker.com/products/fe...zVYPYiGMFGT8GCPBdcvotAuzF0RhWdS4aAjIXEALw_wcB

I bought one of these. It's as expensive as the Halotron, but doesn't have to be replaced/recharged every 10-15 years. You don't have to immediately refill after a slight discharge. Refills are pro-rated and they pay shipping. Also 10% first responder, vet, etc discount.

It has an excellent warranty (transferable lifetime). And I don't have to worry about leaving it in a hot Bronco in the summer. It seems all pressurized containers such as paint cans, fire extinguishers, etc. have a warning to not store it where it's over 120 F. After Stop-Fyre fills each extinguisher, they put it in 200 F water for thirty minutes and check for leaks.

True it's one of the most expensive extinguishers. But long term one of the cheapest, especially if you have to use it.

https://www.ake.com/products/stop-fyre®-standard-fire-extinguisher

I would never use any form of chemical agent especially if the purpose is to head off a smoldering or small flame fire. The damage it causes is not worth it because even if you salvage enough to have a drivable vehicle, insurance generally will total it because how hard that stuff corrodes electrical components. Halotron is my go to personally

Keep in mind that you're more likely to be putting out a brush fire or grass fire than an engine bay fire. E.g. grass/brush getting caught under skid plates and then catching on fire.

For that reason, I carry a standard dry chemical ABC class fire extinguisher instead of something specialized for car fires. Halotron is good for the same ABC classes, but it takes more of it to put out a fire and it's mostly meant for enclosed spaces. It's not very effective in open areas, and the small halotron extinguishers most folks would carry in a vehicle actually aren't rated for class A for that reason. I'd rather risk vehicle damage than be unable to put out a spreading grass fire.

I agree both would be nice, but I don't have space for that. I do carry a small fire blanket in my kitchen kit, but that's really for grease/stove fires. It's not big enough to do much otherwise.

I wish I could carry a 5lb easily, but so far I only carry a 2.5lb for space reasons. Currently that's mounted under the driver seat, which is mildly annoying. I wish there were as many mounting options for 2-doors as there are for 4-doors. Most (all?) of the rear roll bar mounts are effectively 4-door only. There is a lot to be said for having it easily accessible in the driver's floorboard, though.

5-B.C and a oven mitt and a prayer

Along with a 100% wool blanket and a seriously set up first aid kit

CalvinT said:

I bought one of these. It's as expensive as the Halotron, but doesn't have to be replaced/recharged every 10-15 years. You don't have to immediately refill after a slight discharge. Refills are pro-rated and they pay shipping. Also 10% first responder, vet, etc discount.

It has an excellent warranty (transferable lifetime). And I don't have to worry about leaving it in a hot Bronco in the summer. It seems all pressurized containers such as paint cans, fire extinguishers, etc. have a warning to not store it where it's over 120 F. After Stop-Fyre fills an extinguisher, they put it in 200 F water for thirty minutes and check for leaks.

True it's one of the most expensive extinguishers. But long term one of the cheapest, especially if you have to use it.

https://www.ake.com/products/stop-fyre®-standard-fire-extinguisher

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That is an interesting one… is it a Halotron extinguisher for their brand? The partial is very interesting, normally once cracked open it’s a 1 time use then refill. They are pricey, the High Capacity is 2x the content… $800 vs $1200.

They say it’s Standard equal to 10lb Dry Chemical. Makes the High Capacity equal to a 20lb.

The Standard 10lb is about twice what I can get a Halotron… but it has a few advantages over the shoot once Halotron.

I’ll definitely look into those, thanks for the share!

TrailDamage said:

I would never use any form of chemical agent especially if the purpose is to head off a smoldering or small flame fire. The damage it causes is not worth it because even if you salvage enough to have a drivable vehicle, insurance generally will total it because how hard that stuff corrodes electrical components. Halotron is my go to personally

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Those are excellent points and is what steered me toward adding the Halotron. I’ve seen a beautiful F250 Platinum have a relatively minor electrical fire that was severely compounded with all the Dry Chem

As @jofer stated, we’re more likely to address a brush fire underneath or campsite. So carrying both would still be preferred. A 4x6 ft fire blanket would handle camp site or on ground brush fires, but not brush up in chassis… ABC Dry Chemical best option for most common occurrence and replacement cost of extinguisher.

jofer said:

Keep in mind that you're more likely to be putting out a brush fire or grass fire than an engine bay fire. E.g. grass/brush getting caught under skid plates and then catching on fire.

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Shovels are good for putting out brush fires. Years ago I ran across a brush fire by the side of the highway that had just started. Fortunately it was just on the shoulder. I was trying to put it out when a local firefighter showed up in his pickup. Instead of an extinguisher, he grabbed a shovel. He got ahead of the fire and dug a firebreak. End of fire.

Dirt also smothers brush fires.

Fastmc25 said:

5-B.C and a oven mitt and a prayer

Along with a 100% wool blanket and a seriously set up first aid kit

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Nice setup! Looks Good!
Really liking the size of the Med Kit!
Ya never know when someone will need assistance… our yourself.
I came across an accident years back… Dad fell asleep and left road, rolled. Guy sliced his leg & arm badly and was gonna bleed out. His son tried using his belt on leg, which isn’t going to work… I applied a tourniquet to both… spread stop bleed powder on wounds… he screamed of tightening tourniquet pain… but it held him til Paramedics arrived. After that incident, I added a 3rd tourniquet to my med kit… just to have!

I run a used/recycled Halon unit. Looks new and was relatively inexpensive. In the cab, where I can actually get to it quickly.

CalvinT said:

Shovels are good for putting out brush fires. Years ago I ran across a brush fire by the side of the highway that had just started. Fortunately it was just on the shoulder. I was trying to put it out when a local firefighter showed up in his pickup. Instead of an extinguisher, he grabbed a shovel. He got ahead of the fire and dug a firebreak. End of fire.

Dirt also smothers brush fires.

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So true… cost of a small shovel is well worth it in kit!

dougcjohn said:

Nice setup! Looks Good!
Really liking the size of the Med Kit!
Ya never know when someone will need assistance… our yourself.
I came across an accident years back… Dad fell asleep and left road, rolled. Guy sliced his leg & arm badly and was gonna bleed out. His son tried using his belt on leg, which isn’t going to work… I applied a tourniquet to both… spread stop bleed powder on wounds… he screamed of tightening tourniquet pain… but it held him til Paramedics arrived. After that incident, I added a 3rd tourniquet to my med kit… just to have!

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Good to have proper training too.

CalvinT said:

Good to have proper training too.

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Totally, absolutely! Everyone doesn’t require military field training but should get some emergency first aid and resuscitation training. My office requires 25% to have basic emergency medical training…. Often companies will cover total cost for those that volunteer to get training.