[Public-List] Fire

[Robert Kirk]

At 04:59 PM 7/12/2011, Stephen Gwyn wrote:
>...Fire extinguishers really work. The make a real mess however as you can 
>see in the photos here: ...

Stephen (and anyone else who is interested): I don't know about Canada's 
regulations, but in the US, the officially required boat fire extinguishers 
are effective, but leave a god-awful powder residue which turns to a slimy 
coating whick often ruins what you are trying to save. Thankfully, they put 
the fire out as you've seen. Some years ago the USA banned for 
environmental reasons (ozone layer), the excellent halon fire extinguishers 
[except for automatic engine compartment systems, I think] . They also put 
the fire out but leave everything clean. I bought a quantity of hand held 
halon extinguishers for boat and household use just before they went off 
the market since they leave no residue in a kitchen or boat fire and work 
on Class A,B,or C fires. By all means, keep the legal extinguishers aboard 
for inspection reasons but try to obtain a halon or CO2 bottle for real 
use. CO2 is almost as good. I'm not sure where you can get a CO2 bottle 
now, but I think they are still legal.

Bob Kirk
Isobar 181


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