Halon Fire Extinguisher?

On Mon, 3 May 2004 14:50:56 +0000 (UTC), Aaron Coolidge
wrote:

Roger Halstead wrote:
snip

: With the airflow through most small aircraft I'm not sure the CO2
: extinguisher would be all that effective.

I was in the engine room of a cargo ship that had a CO2 extinguisher -

I would think the cargo hold would be a lot tighter than the typical
small plane where the draft would blow out a match.

technically called a "smothering system" activate. Let's just say that
you *DO NOT* want to be anywhere near a CO2 system that's been activated.

About the only one safe for a confined space is Halon. You'll choke
on a dry chemical. The stuff is terrible even in an office, let alone
an airplane.

As I recall, two men who couldn't get out were killed. The ship's engines
stopped within a minute due to lack of oxygen. I would *NEVER* shoot off
a CO2 extinguisher in any kind of confined space.

I once was able to put my yearly training to use when we had a fire in
one of the construction trailers on site.

It was Winter and very cold. They had one of the old style Kerosene
stoves that were used in many homes. For safety it was set in a metal
pan about an inch to inch and a half deep. Thing was probably 4 feet
wide, two and a half across and maybe three feet tall. Of course it
was located way back at the end of the trailer which made good sense.

They had flooded it and when it started it got hot in a hurry, plus
there was a good half inch (or more) of kerosene in the pan. The
flames were boiling up and then following the ceiling about 20 feet to
the door where they were rolling out.

I had a 25# dry (Purple-K) extinguisher in each hand. I took a deep
breath and went in on my knees. (standing up would not have been
conducive to good health. It looked just like the training films with
the flames billowing across the ceiling the full length of the
trailer).
I don't remember how many extinguishers the construction crew had
used, but there were a bunch of them on the ground by the door. They
had been trying to put out the flames instead of the fire. It took
less than the one extinguisher to put out the fire, but that kerosene
was boiling hot and was filling the room with fumes... fast. As soon
as the flames were out, so was I. :-)) If that sucker relit it was
going to be noisy.

I was able to hold my breath long enough to go in, put out the fire,
and get out. With the heat and fumes, breathing in there would not
have been healthy. (It was Hot!)

You never, ever use CO2 in any confined space. That would be pressure
vessels, holes in the ground, and air tight rooms. They are fine in
the normal open office spaces.

CO2 does warn you though. It makes you feel like you need to breathe.
It is what keys, or triggers the breathing reflex, not the lack of
Oxygen. For instance with nitrogen in a confined space you have
absolutely no warning. You just go to sleep. Hence the requirement
for the complete harness and an outside safety man when entering
pressure vessels or holes in the ground.

We had a number of underground pumping stations. When I hired in,
we'd just go out, open the hatch, go in and check the instruments. By
the time I went back to college we couldn't even go in alone.
Complete harness and outside backup were minimum.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com