Date:         Sat, 16 Nov 1996 11:30:33 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         James Cohen <jscohen@m2.sprynet.com>
Subject:      Re: Fire Extinguisher: C02 or Halon?

>Jimmy Cohen and Dennis Haynes have pointed out to me that if I use my ABC
>fire extinguisher in my van to put out a fire, the damage it does will
>likely be worse than having a fire in the first place.
>
>Accordingly, I plan to get a C02 fire extinguisher as Dennis recommended but
>I seem to remember than Halons are even better somehow.
>
>Anybody have a take on whether this is true and whether I should shoot for
>Halon?


Hey, that's JAMES when it's official list buisness, buddy-boy.... ;).

I looked for Halon and I couldn't find any.  The problem with halon is that
it eats up the ozone layer and therefore may be hard to find, outlawed or
at least, morally wrong.  (Do you want Seth to wear sunscreen all his
life?)

CO2 is also hard to find, Wal-mart and Home depot don't carry it.  Also,
I've never seen a small CO2 canister, they're always HUGE.

 But consider the way you'll be using it.  If it's a big fire, you want the
most fire stopping ability you can get and to hell with the residue.  If
it's a small cooking fire, or some leaves stuck on the exhaust pipe, a
small baking soda kitchen extenguisher will do.

The verdict:  Carry several.  One big stop-all extenguisher, and several
small ones including the little kitchen ones, and small ABC types.
Remember, if one goes off for even a small fire, it is then considered
spent and needs to be replaced.  A little grease fire on the stove can then
render your big extenguisher extenguished.

James

PS I had ANOTHER fire in a bus...but I'll tell you about that some other
time.