Do you have a fire extinguisher on board?

You cannot have too many fire extinguishers in your RV or home.

In RV, I have two small ones in each living/sleeping area and two larger ones in my storage.

In my home garage I have a couple of pretty big ones.  A fire extinguisher saved my house from burning down last summer.  After an oil change, I started up my generator to burn out old fuel from last season and to ensure it ran perfectly before going out on a trip where I would be using my air conditioner-I usually rely on solar but not for air conditioning.  ANyway, something happened (think a fuel line split or popped off though I didn't work on the fuel system) and my generator caught fire and the gas tank exploded.  FLames were about 30 feet high and it burned very hot, caught two cars on fire in my driveway from the leaking gas in the time it took for me to grab my extinguisher and put the fire out.  Fire was put out instantly on all 3 fires.  These things work and I will always be more vigilant in the future.  My generator could have caused a massive wildfire if it happened while camping and I'm grateful it happened in my driveway.

I now know it is recommended to replace fuel lines every 5 years on a generator and I now do that religiously.

A true fire extinguisher story?

Years ago, I worked security on weekends at a large retirement community: over 2,500 condos spread out on 1,000 acres. We were first responders for emergencies and answered all types of calls for assistance.

One afternoon, a resident called in a panic that she had a large black snake in her kitchen. It was pretty common to see these four-foot long snakes sunning themselves, and they did a decent job of keeping the rodent population under control. We generally ignored them.

My partner was nearby, while I was several minutes away on another section of the property. I arrived to find a huge mess in this lady?s kitchen. It seems that my partner had heard somewhere that a CO2 extinguisher was good for chasing away critters. The only problem, we carried dry chemical.

There was dry chem in every nook and cranny of that unit. It eventually cost the condo association lots of money to get it all cleaned up. The snake? It wandered off somewhere during the confusion.

Years ago when I was 16 I was working on my car about 9:00 at night.  My mother came out to see what time I was coming in.  While talking i was pouring gas into the carburetor while my friend was trying to start the car.  the car backfired and my hand was on fire, I was holding a can with gas.  Just so happened the fire extinguisher was right behind my Mother.  She grabbed it and sprayed my hand.  all in just a second.  Not even any sign of a burn on my hand.

We always carried at least one with us inside the RV. Thinking about it now and reading everyone else's posts - we will definitely be getting additional units with our new RV. We do a lot of outdoor cooking near the camper and should definitely have one nearby.

Thanks for post, stories, tips & reminder.  Will be buying another 1 or 2 today.
  Regarding dry chemical:  put on list of things to do once a month SHAKE IT, or maybe as you get ready to leave on a trip shake on your checklist.  They will settle and clump.  When you need to use is not the time to find out. 

J32952 said:

Thanks for post, stories, tips & reminder.  Will be buying another 1 or 2 today.
  Regarding dry chemical:  put on list of things to do once a month SHAKE IT, or maybe as you get ready to leave on a trip shake on your checklist.  They will settle and clump.  When you need to use is not the time to find out.

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You can also invert the extinguisher and tap it with a rubber mallet to loosen the powder.

J32952 said:

Thanks for post, stories, tips & reminder.  Will be buying another 1 or 2 today.
  Regarding dry chemical:  put on list of things to do once a month SHAKE IT, or maybe as you get ready to leave on a trip shake on your checklist.  They will settle and clump.  When you need to use is not the time to find out.

Click to expand...

That's a good tip. We have a few small extinguishers that indicate their pressure is "green" however they've been sitting around for a number of years. Wouldn't want to witness the "settle and clump" situation firsthand so I'll do as you suggest.

I have two on board.  One, next to the door (came with the coach) and another in the bedroom the same size that I purchased and installed, using heavy duty Velcro.

I wonder if a real, full size extinguisher would be better than the smaller RV versions?

LarryL60 said:

I wonder if a real, full size extinguisher would be better than the smaller RV versions?

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I know of no reason why not....But I would still want multiple extinguishers  and some locations won't have the needed space for a full size unit.

LarryL60 said:

I wonder if a real, full size extinguisher would be better than the smaller RV versions?

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Well, if more is better (more time/powder/) then yes.  Does anyone know where I can buy one (In the US).  All I see at the stores are the smaller ones. 

Drifterrider said:

Well, if more is better (more time/powder/) then yes.  Does anyone know where I can buy one (In the US).  All I see at the stores are the smaller ones. 

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The big box home improvement stores usually carry the larger sizes. The link below goes to the 7.5 lb extinguisher we have in an outside bin. We also have several smaller extinguishers inside the coach and one in the toad. Amazon also carries the larger sizes not surprisingly...

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kidde-PRO-210-2A-10B-C-Fire-Extinguisher-21005779/100552654

I have one of the standard things by the door from the factory.
but I replaced it with a slighter larger one at some point.

Installed a bigger one in the bedroom closet
& I want to say I put a bigger one under the kitchen sink too, but I'm not sure...I guess I should check.

I will always try to buy the models with a hose.  I used to have training all the time in various things "safety" when I worked in heavy industry... once a very good fire extinguisher course, complete with practice on a live fire.  Anyway, somewhere along the line I learned that the hose gives a lot more options.

blw2 said:

I have one of the standard things by the door from the factory.
but I replaced it with a slighter larger one at some point.

Installed a bigger one in the bedroom closet
& I want to say I put a bigger one under the kitchen sink too, but I'm not sure...I guess I should check.

I will always try to buy the models with a hose.  I used to have training all the time in various things "safety" when I worked in heavy industry... once a very good fire extinguisher course, complete with practice on a live fire.  Anyway, somewhere along the line I learned that the hose gives a lot more options.

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Hose vs. "fixed". That's an excellent point and something I had not thought much about. Good advice.

Yes I have. I have tried H3R Performance for example didn't work so well, then I tried Amerex. It was alright but the best. But then I bought Badger. Easy manipulation, easy usage.

I carry 6 extinguishers plus a two nozzle marine automatic system designed to flood the entire engine compartment with foam. One is dry chemical, three are large marine foam units, and two large halon units.

I think I'm gonna take one of those new "small" jobbers and just fire it off just so I understand what they can (and potentially cannot) do.

-Chak

Chakara said:

I think I'm gonna take one of those new "small" jobbers and just fire it off just so I understand what they can (and potentially cannot) do.

-Chak

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That's an excellent idea. I used one of those small jobbers that came with a new trailer I had just purchased.

Two tires blew out at the same time and almost started a fire. Sprayed them with the small RVIA approved fire extinguisher and discovered it was rather short-lived. 

That's why I carry five big ones now. 

best bet is a can of gasoline. and run.

no really. if you can get a chem, not dry powder in at least a 5 pound unit. for use in the kitchen, another of the same in the living area.  this is a gas so the fire draws it is to it. no ox and is cold so fight the fire two ways (no not a co2 tank). used to be called halon not sure what the re-branded earth friendly stuff is called. little to no clean up here.
and a couple 2-1/2 pounds outside in just dry chem. just turn them over every six months. and get them serviced (better units) (replaced if the cheap stuff) every 2-4 years. very messy if used. powder gets into everything.
got one under the seat of your truck, car, etc.

Years ago I had a customer who's coach caught fire driving up the Grapevine in Cali.  He got the coach to the side of the road, got his wife and dog out and then fought the fire til it was out.  I talked to him 6 months later, just after he got the coach back on the road.  His take on the matter was that the next time he's going to get the wife and dog out and they're going to watch the coach burn to the ground.  He said the insurance company would have replaced the coach quickly if that happened, vs. having to fight them tooth and nail for every penny to get the coach repaired.
I thought about this and even though we full time, we carry very little that can't be replaced.  Some pictures, our family bible, and my guns are about the only things I couldn't replace with a couple of trips to WalMart.