Fire Extinguishers

**offtohavasu** · 07-31-2018, 10:20 AM

Remember PASS? Pull-Aim-Squeeze-Sweep. The "Aim" part is aim at the base of the flames. That's where you're going to extinguish the flames. I guarantee you if you're in an engulfed situation to escape, there's is no way you'll have the means to aim at the base of the source to clear a path. There are too many "bases" at that point. You can't discharge an extinguisher willy nilly along a path and expect it's going to give you chance. Not gonna happen.

**Knightclimber** · 07-31-2018, 01:00 PM

An extinguisher is definitely an very invaluable tool. No one is contradicting that. But a tool must be matched to the scale of its usefulness. Having them readily available is awesome and I applaud you on that. But I am concerned with the idea of believing it can be used to suppress a large fire enough to facilitate an escape. they just don't work that way.
Please put me in contact with your local department. I am curious to hear their suggestions for clearing a path in a fully involved fire. Put out a small fire, definitely! If you are clearing a path it is already too late for an extinguisher. If the floor was burning and you put it out are you really going to immediately walk over that are? Is there any floor left or will you fall through and into a void with active fire? It may be we are misunderstanding each other about the level of fire. I myself am imagining this scenario to be you are sleeping (if awake and in a room with a fire you should be able to put it out with your extinguisher) and are awakened to the sounds of an alarm (hopefully!). At that point you feel the bedroom door for heat. If it is hot, you don't open it, period. That thin bit of wood can actually last a surprising amount of time to keep the gases, smoke and fire at bay. If it isn't hot, then open it while being in a crawling position and get out immediately. If the fire is between you and the door, that is not a viable option unless said fire is only a garbage can sized one. I am envisioning a fire larger than that in this scenario.

**TucsonJim** · 07-31-2018, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by Knightclimber

At that point you feel the bedroom door for heat. If it is hot, you don't open it, period. That thin bit of wood can actually last a surprising amount of time to keep the gases, smoke and fire at bay.

Just to prove your point Knightclimber. When our '14 337 burned, we were traveling with the bedroom door closed. When the fire spread from the truck into the fifth wheel, it did so at the front of the coach near the closet. In this picture, you can see complete destruction in the bedroom area.

However - on the this side of the door, you can see there is still wall paper, carpet Plastic and wood that did not burn. It took the volunteer fire department about 20 minutes to arrive on scene. So eventually, the flames made their way through the door and were just starting to burn the ceiling. It's important to note that the lower you go towards the floor, the less damage you see from super-heated gasses and flames.

In this next photo, you can see all the cabinets and furniture were not burned by the time the flames were extinguished. But there is substantial damage to the ceiling. Once again showing that getting low is the right thing to do.

These pictures demonstrate that if you keep the door closed, and get out of the emergency exit quickly while remaining as low as possible, you might have a chance of surviving.

Jim

**SteveTN** · 07-31-2018, 01:55 PM

I appreciate the discussion and especially the professional viewpoint Knightclimber. TusconJim, your photos really drive the point home and are a valuable addition to this thread.

**Cate&Rob** · 07-31-2018, 02:29 PM

Setting aside this fire extinguisher debate for the moment . . . kind of ironic since I started this thread with that name! . . .

I want to come back to the discussion about best possible early warning.
Jim (TucsonJim) has done some great research on smoke alarms that meet RVIA requirements.

So, now Jim, you have me shopping for smoke alarms. WOW . . . there are a lot of choices!!
Jim recommended the First Alert SA320CN. Staying with just the First Alert brand, for not a lot more money you can have the SCO500NVA that does smoke and CO and wirelessly interconnects with other same alarms.

I would specifically like to ask Knightclimber for his perspective on best smoke/CO alarms . . . and where to place them.

Rob

**Knightclimber** · 07-31-2018, 02:40 PM

I was just going to post that I think everyone should put a smoke/CO combo unit on the ceiling in the bedroom. I would also get a CO detector that has a digital readout on it to place somewhere you can look at it when moving about throughout the day. I keep one on the counter that I glance at when I walk past to see if it reads anything other than 0. CO detectors do not alarm until they reach 30 ppm. The good detectors with the digital read out will show lower levels on the screen without alarming. So, you will know when you have 6 ppm. Many times someone can have a CO leak that is very slow and gradual and with opening doors and windows through the day it never builds up to the 30 ppm. But at night it can, having the CO detector in the bedroom rather than out in the main part of the RV allows you to hear the alarm with your door closed. I would place another combo unit just outside the bedroom door on the ceiling.

Thanks for the pics Jim. Those are amazing tools to show the effectiveness of keeping that door closed!

**ChadandMel** · 07-31-2018, 05:18 PM

@Knightclimber

Some people are just stuck in there old ways and aren’t willing to learn or take advise besides what they “think” they know.

I too have pulled bodies out of fires, intubated burn victims knowing they will never breath again on there own. Given them every last drop of morphine I had on the ambulance to try and take away their pain. Not fun.

Want to see a bunch of grown “tough” men cry? Go by a fire scene where someone didn’t make it out. Heartbreaking.

But what do we know?

Just throw some baking soda on it or use an extinguisher.

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**howson** · 07-31-2018, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by Knightclimber

I was just going to post that I think everyone should put a smoke/CO combo unit on the ceiling in the bedroom. I would also get a CO detector that has a digital readout on it to place somewhere you can look at it when moving about throughout the day. I keep one on the counter that I glance at when I walk past to see if it reads anything other than 0. CO detectors do not alarm until they reach 30 ppm. The good detectors with the digital read out will show lower levels on the screen without alarming. So, you will know when you have 6 ppm. Many times someone can have a CO leak that is very slow and gradual and with opening doors and windows through the day it never builds up to the 30 ppm. But at night it can, having the CO detector in the bedroom rather than out in the main part of the RV allows you to hear the alarm with your door closed. I would place another combo unit just outside the bedroom door on the ceiling.

Thanks for the pics Jim. Those are amazing tools to show the effectiveness of keeping that door closed!

So by pure dumb luck I put the three I installed in the right spot? You can see them here: https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...l=1#post178372

**DaveMatthewsBand** · 07-31-2018, 05:52 PM

I’m curious... if the vast majority of folks on this thread that mention using a fire extinguisher in their trailer are like me, in that they would only do so on a small fire that isn’t preventing them from exiting.

I wouldn’t risk my life for our rig or truck, or go into a blazing inferno, but if I thought there was a high probability I could extinguish a small fire, especially one that isn’t blocking the exit, I would probably attempt to do so, but our trailer is pretty tiny.
I doubt I’d try in 40’ rig where the fire (I can see) is 25’ from the exit.

At the very least I’d turn off the LP.

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**ChadandMel** · 07-31-2018, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by DaveMatthewsBand

I’m curious... if the vast majority of folks on this thread that mention using a fire extinguisher in their trailer are like me, in that they would only do so on a small fire that isn’t preventing them from exiting.

I wouldn’t risk my life for our rig or truck, or go into a blazing inferno, but if I thought there was a high probability I could extinguish a small fire, especially one that isn’t blocking the exit, I would probably attempt to do so, but our trailer is pretty tiny.
I probably wouldn’t try in 40’ rig where the fire (I can see) is 25’ from the exit.

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I think the majority of us are thinking the same way, however, there was mention of using them to clear a path to exit which has been explained, won’t work.

No one on here has said having a fire extinguisher is a bad idea. It’s all in knowing when/where they are appropriate, and when it’s best to leave it to the professionals.

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