190E fire extinguisher?

[drainaudio]

HI all.
My 190E owners manual mentions a fire extinguisher located under the passenger front seat. There isn't one there nor are there any mounting brackets. Any ideas on where to get one that would easily fit in to this location or whether MB can supply brackets for some possibly pre-drilled holes that may exist under the seat?
Thanks, Geoff.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

MB will do you one but halfords will sell them a lot cheaper and they need 2 screws to hold the bracket on to whatever it is you decide you want it fixing.

personaly i wouldn't bother with one. if your car burst into flames, it is more important you get everyone out and away from it rather than waste time trying to find the source of the fire to stand any chance of extinguishing it with these extinguishers.

 

[television]

. if your car burst into flames, it is more important you get everyone out and away .

That is a very noble Swedish attitude = People are more important than anything else.

Malcolm

 

[SLinKyjoe]

That is a very noble Swedish attitude = People are more important than anything else.

Malcolm

and if you fanny about trying to put out a fire which you cant unless you have had good training and are competant, then you waste time thinking you can with your 1 kg extinguisher. and then what type do you buy? if its powder based it will have trouble penetrating your dash board to extinguish any fires behind that, and if its windy and you open your bonnet if will just blow away. then so will a Carbon Dioxide extinguisher but that would penetrate the dashboard.

buy a foam base extinguisher will be better on your fuel supply but if you are using unleaded the foam will react with the substances in the fuel and it will breakdown and not put out the fire!

best get everyone out and ring, a the fire service and b your insurance.

 

[drainaudio]

HI guys..
Ok, I was thinking absolute worst case scenario - you can't get out and a fire starts in the interior of the vehicle. Now, would you rather have an extinguisher at this point or not? Everywhere I look in terms of EU driving advice I see this item listed under the things to carry - AA, RAC etc.
Better to be safe than sorry or a case of over-the-top?
Cheers, Geoff.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

how worst case do you want to get? if you were incapacitated you would not be able to use the fire extinguisher, result, you burn, but what type of extinguisher do you want to carry for your worst case?

if you are unable to get out coz the doors have been jammed by other cars and your fuel is leaking and you have just filled up from the services, how much help would a 1kg dry powder or 1kg CO2 extinguisher be. therefore you would have peace of mind in fitting it, and when this awful situation occurs you would reach down for your extinguisher to find you have had it 3 years and it doesnt work? or that you have regularly checked it (weekly) and that it works for about 23seconds, then it is overcome by the fire as its critical application rate is now less than the rate for fire spread you have. result, you burn.

but bear this one in mind when you make your decision. if you choose the wrong type, you wont put out the fire! so do you:-
a, get your family out first before tackling the fire and find out you it wont put it out, or
b, get out with aforementiond fire extinguisher, try to put the fire out, fail and then be overcome by fumes and not be able to help your family out?

and are you intending on going on a fire extingusiher awareness course to learn how to use one?

Much better to make sure your car is in tip top conditon, and enjoy life. But if you want to make a case of worse case try this, you have stopped on the hard shoulder due to fire undr the bonnet, you get out with extinguisher, open the bonnet which ecourages fire spread due to the helpful addition of oxygen you have just added, and more smoke, which spreads back down the motorway and blocks the vision of the 40tonne truck, whose driver decided as he cant see, he should come off the motorway lane and into the hard shoulder and straight into the back of your car! how much help was your extinguisher? (This happened on the M1 few years back)



Old motto but still the one to remember: In case of fire, Get out, Get the Fire Brigade out, Stay out!!

you can of course do a risk assessment on your car! but you will have to fit a smoke alarm in case you fall asleep in it and it sets on fire while you sleep!

 

[Ian Brown]

waste of time trying to put a fire out now as unleaded Petrol is very hard to extinguish and seem to reignite

 

[SLinKyjoe]

waste of time trying to put a fire out now as unleaded Petrol is very hard to extinguish and seem to reignite

well if you use an alcohol resistant foam you can get it out and it will stay out, but nobody markets a 2litre AR foam extinguisher. deisel will be easier to put out with normal foam but then you have to remember that the stuff in normal foam is an enviroment poluter so you cant just wash it down the drain.

and all this assumes you know how to apply the foam most effectively to put out the fire in the first place?

 

[Ian Brown]

Have to agree with you there Joe there is no use having a fire extinguisher if it doesn’t put the fire out and you could endanger your life trying to do so if you don’t know what you are doing. I know there are different extinguishers for different types of fires

 

[merctronic]

We should have a post on the forum with advice on the best way to deal with a fire as it could save someones life.........

Maybe one of our members have been trained in fire awareness....

I know you can do a course on that type of thing..

 

[SLinKyjoe]

something i have just remember. a foam extinguisher will be good for putting out the fire created by your cat on the warm long grass if you park on it. but you would need to move your car first! and then it will be best to avoid parking on the grass in the first place!

so to sum up. you need both a 1kg dry powder and 1 kg CO2 extinguisher for your cars interior fires and also for any electrical areas in your engine bay area. both these tyeps will be suitable to put out a small fire with fuel but they have no post fire control so you will get reignition. so best have at least 1 2 litre AFFF foam extingusher as well, to provide a foam blanket which will give you post fire protection!

then you need to have respiratory protection while you fight these fires as they give off toxic and harmfull gases, and it will need to be positive pressure, any normal breathing apparatus will be okay. You will also need protective clothing in which to fight the fire, coz if i remember right, they are generally a tad warm!

you will also need to practice putting out these fires and have some procedures for you and your family in the UNLIKLEY event of fire in your car!

A good mobile phone with credit, charged and emergency numbers is probably a damn site more effective.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

We should have a post on the forum with advice on the best way to deal with a fire as it could save someones life.........

..

the best way to save someones life in the event of a fire is to get them out! prevention is far more effective than buggering around wasting time with something you only see propping open a door in summer. More people die by bad exit signage, fire doors blocked and locked, or inaccessable fire escapes than by having loads of fire extingushers around and lots of wannabe heroes who have spent at least 1 hour being told about fire and if they were lucky, got to put out a small bin fire with a fire extinguisher.

good house keeping and suitable procedures regularly practiced is the most effective way to save life.

 

[Ian Brown]

so it's a waste of time having an extinguisher in your car you are better getting out and running away

 

[merctronic]

you seem to know all the correct ways of dealing with a fire,as in getting the person away from the risk area first and then dealing with the fire..

 

[SLinKyjoe]

well you could do this i suppose

however, if you are following me.....the doors is this way~~~~~~>

 

[merctronic]

that looks a bit more than a car fire.

 

[Ian Brown]

that looks a bit more than a car fire.

If it is a car there is some chassis on it

 

[Ian Brown]

well you could do this i suppose

however, if you are following me.....the doors is this way~~~~~~>

Don't fancy these firemen comming out to my fire all they are doing is watching the fire

 

[SLinKyjoe]

Don't fancy these firemen comming out to my fire all they are doing is watching the fire

i was just looking at that myself. looking at the one gripping the other, i would assume the order, 'run away' may be next.

maybes the engine fire outside didnt help

 

[drainaudio]

HI Slinkyjoe,
Certainly a completely valid argument you have there and I must say having pondered on it a little I agree.
I have never experienced a vehicle fire but maybe that's because I've always been absolutely fastidious with maintenance - the two friends of mine who have experienced this were both driving old beaters (a Capri and VW......yes the battery shorted and set the rear seat on fire.....luckily after said friend had parked and walked away.......goodbye VW).
The money potentially set aside for a fire extinguisher will now be spent on a much nicer thermos and travel blanket for my cold weather Xmas travels.
Thanks, Geoff.