Fire extinguisher

“ If, after all precautions are taken, you are visited by fire, stay to fight it. Get only far enough away to escape being burned, and then fight and fight hard. Work the fire extinguisher for all it is worth, for in less time than it takes to read this page the fate of your car will have been decided.
Get out of your head, first of all, the idea that there is to be an explosion. It doesn’t happen. The first puff from the burning gasoline is the nearest thing to an explosion you will see. ”

“ Whatever may be the cause of a fire in your automobile, do not run away from it. Stay and fight the fire. Often the utmost haste is needed in getting out of the car when a fire starts, but on the way out grab the fire extinguisher and turn to use it. Do not be afraid that there will be an explosion and run. There will be none, and if you work fast you may save serious damage to the car. ”

“ You throw table salt down a blazing chimney to set free the flame-suppressing hydrochloric acid, you discharge a loaded gun up a blazing chimney to put out the fire by another agency; still the salt, with certain combinations, may be explosive, a resinous vapor may be combustive in a hydrochloric atmosphere, and gunpowder isn't harmless when thrown upon a blaze--in fact, our common fire-extinguisher, water, has its explosive incidences as liquid as well as vapor.
Gases explosive in association may be set free by the temperature of a burning building and get together. ”

“ Unless local authorities advise otherwise, fill buckets, bathtubs and other containers with water, for use in emergency fire fighting.
If a fire does occur, your home might be saved if you know how to fight fires, and have on hand some basic firefighting tools. These should include a garden hose, a ladder, buckets filled with sand, containers filled with water, and a fire extinguisher. Keep in mind that vaporizing-liquid types of fire extinguishers can produce dangerous fumes when used in small enclosed spaces. ”

“ But though an extinguisher may be an excellent invention, and will extinguish a fire swiftly, its successful action depends entirely on one point. The contents must be delivered on the fire direct, and to that end the one who grips it must approach sufficiently close to the flames. Here, as it happened, that was almost impossible. For when the staircase door was thrown open the improvised brigade was swept back by an appalling gush of flame and smoke. Clive ducked his head, turned his face away, and set the extinguisher going. ”

“ A fire extinguisher is a metal case containing a solution of bicarbonate of soda, and a glass vessel full of strong sulphuric acid. As long as the extinguisher is in an upright position, these substances are kept separate, but when the extinguisher is inverted, the acid escapes from the bottle, and mixes with the soda solution. The [56] mingling liquids interact and liberate carbon dioxide. A part of the gas thus liberated dissolves in the water of the soda solution and escapes from the tube with the outflowing liquid, while a portion remains undissolved and escapes as a stream of gas. ”

“ Always have a large blanket at hand to smother flames in burning clothing—also a bucket of water and a quantity of sand. A siphon of carbonic water is an excellent fire extinguisher.
The gas of gasoline is heavier than air, so a container should never be held ABOVE a flame. Keep kerosene and gasoline containers well corked and at a distance from fire.
Never inhale breath while performing with fire. FLAME DRAWN INTO THE LUNGS IS FATAL TO LIFE.
So much for the entertaining side of the art. ”

“ Therefore, the Board recommends that the Federal Aviation Agency evaluate the design of the Pyrene Duo Head Model DCD-10 fire extinguisher system and take such corrective action as will increase its reliability and prevent release of CO2 into the habitable portions of the aircraft. ”

“ While entry into the cargo compartment is available, not all cargo is accessible.
(4) It is unlikely that personnel would have the means available to extinguish a fire (particularly a deep seated fire) .
(5) The reliance on crew members to fight a cargo fire must be discontinued.
(6) The quantity of fire extinguishing agent and the number of portable extinguishers are inadequate.
(7) The level of visibility in a smoke filled cargo compartment is not adequate for locating and fighting a fire with a portable fire extinguisher. ”

“ Moggridge's campaign was due to the unexpected operation of a new fire extinguisher, which the builder, our well-known and respected fellow citizen Mr. James Johnson, had located above the hall with a view to experimenting on a suitable occasion. The premature exhibition of this remarkable invention, which promises to be an epoch-making success, appears to have originated in the laudable desire of Mr. Noakes that the large audience should be in no way inconvenienced by the inclemency of the weather. ”

“ Presently Forrester came to an indentation in the wall on his right, forming a sort of shelf. On this rested two bright steel cylinders about the size of the small fire extinguisher he carried in his car. To one of the cylinders was attached a five-foot length of a slender rubber tubing which connected it with one of the rubber death masks he knew only too well. Here at last was evidence beyond dispute. Forrester did not meddle with the cylinders. The slightest mistake made by one unaccustomed to them might release the deadly gas he had reason to believe they contained. ”

“ Water extinguishes fire, not, as the common talk is, by virtue of any incompatibility between the two elements, but partly by the effect of the lowering of the temperature caused by its evaporation, and partly by acting as a mechanical extinguisher. Enveloping the parts of the body upon which it is thrown, it separates the combustible matter from the atmosphere, and cuts off the supply of oxygen—the life of the fire. ”

“ Promptly the huge land-fort came to a standstill. To all appearances its term of life was approaching its end. Flames began to issue from one of the carburettors. In another moment the tank would have become a raging inferno but for the action of one of the drivers. Grasping a "pyrene" extinguisher, he directed the oxygen-destroying chemical upon the flames. Almost immediately the fire was quenched, but the noxious fumes from the extinguisher made the interior untenable. ”

“ With a hissing sound, the chemical streams from the extinguishers spurted upon the blaze. The fire died down around the edges of the big hole that had been burned in the floor, but in the centre there was hot flame.
"Can we get it under?" panted Sid, who, having emptied one extinguisher—a small one—ran after another.
"We've got to!" declared Phil, trying to shield his face from the fierce heat.
"If we can only keep it down until the fellows come with the hose, we'll do all right," gasped Tom, choking from the smoke. ”

“ Oil Extinguisher.—To extinguish oils which have taken fire, a fine-meshed wire net of the size of a boiling pan should be kept on hand in every varnish factory, etc. In the same moment when the netting is laid upon the burning surface, the flame is extinguished because it is a glowing mass of gas, which the iron wire quickly cools off so that it cannot glow any more. The use of water is excluded, and that of earth and sand undesirable, because both dirty the oil. ”

“ It was one he had constructed from an old one found in the shop, but it contained some of his own chemicals, the original solution having been used at some time or other. It was the intention of the young inventor to put on the market a house-size extinguisher after he had disposed of his big airship invention.
"Look out there! The gasoline tank may go up!" cried Field, the small man with the big voice. ”

“ But in ignited substances which are porous, so as to give the fire room to move, if this motion be checked by strong compression, the fire is immediately extinguished. For instance, when tinder, or the burning wick of a candle or lamp, or even live charcoal or coal, is pressed down with an extinguisher, or with the foot, or any similar instrument, the operation of the fire instantly ceases.
33. Approximation to a hot body increases heat in proportion to the degree of approximation. ”

“ These extinguishers cost more than the dry compound tubes, but the man who can afford to own a car can afford to have the necessary appliances for its protection. One may never have occasion to use the fire extinguishers, but it is nice to know that they are ready if the emergency does come, for there isn’t always a fire department handy, and if there is, generally the firemen arrive after the car is doomed. ”

“ Nevertheless the rate at which smoke would rise would depend on the conditions in the cargo compartment at the time.
Access to various pallets is made between the pallets and the fuselage which is very restrictive. Under the most ideal conditions fire fighting with the equipment provided would be difficult. During the search for the fire the fire fighter has both hands occupied, one hand carrying the 16 lb extinguisher and the other holding the 10ft wand. ”

“ Many homes have installed sprinkler systems to extinguish fires quickly, and more Americans are making it a practice to keep fire extinguishers handy in the home, especially in the kitchen, where many fires start. There is an increased awareness and avoidance of such dangerous practices as smoking in bed, leaving matches where young children can get at them, and overloading electrical circuits.
Despite all these efforts, the annual deaths, injuries, and economic losses from fire are still staggering. We cannot afford any letup in our efforts to prevent fires. ”

“ Jarby's Encyclopedia of Knowledge and Compendium of Literature, Science and Art is a marvelous work, including as it does the chapter on 'Fire—Its Traditions—How to Make a Fire Without Matches—Fire Fighting—Fire Extinguishers, How Made,' et cetery, containing directions by which man, woman or butcher can convert lung-testers into approved fire-extinguishers at a cost of only twenty-six cents. ”

“ The inner roof was too shaky to allow one to walk on it, and so, at Debenham's suggestion, we bent a tube which was lying about and syphoned some water up with complete success. Our more usual fire extinguishers were Minimax, and they left nothing to be desired: indeed, all they left were the acid stains on the material touched. ”

“ First, however, I will ask my legal friend here if we have a perfect right to dispose of these fire-extinguishers?"
"You have," exclaimed Attorney Toole joyously. "Every right in the world. You can sell, give, donate or bequeath them, for better, for worse, till death you do part."
"Then all is well," said the colonel.
"Except," said Attorney Toole to himself, "that those are first-class nickel-plated lung-testers, and not fire-extinguishers. But that doesn't matter. In fact, the demand for lung-testers is on a par with the demand for fire-extinguishers in Willington. ”

“ Firemen generally were greatly pleased, and the press lauded the inventor in praiseworthy terms. The Fireman's Journal of September 4, 1880, alluded to the water tower as follows:
"This apparatus is really the only absolutely new appliance for fire extinguishment that has been invented since the steam fire engine was introduced. There have been improvements in engines, ladders, hose, and rolling stock of all kinds, but of new inventions, original in all respects and of practical utility, there have been none for over twenty years." ”

“ Thus it is that a small quantity of water thrown on a large fire often does serious mischief. The methods of extinguishing fire are two, mechanical and chemical. The use of water, for the before-named reasons, ranks among the former, and its most successful application is by means of the steam fire-engine. There are many substances that chemically oppose combustion, and perhaps the best-known medium of these for the purpose is Sinclair’s fire exterminator. ”

“ If you do succeed in igniting a quantity of free gasoline, do not attempt to extinguish the fire with water. Pouring water on burning gasoline spreads the fire. Extinguish it with earth or sand, or by the use of one of the dry powder extinguishers now on the market. ”

“ They have everything but the kitchen sink in them, including enough oxygen to sustain combustion even under water or in a vacuum. Not enough oxygen to make wax explode, like powder, but enough to keep it burning. Chemical extinguishers are all smothering agents, and you just can't smother a wax fire. ”

“ Detonations produced at the exhaust are caused by the burning of a charge of the explosive mixture in the exhaust-pipe, which charge, for some reason, has not been ignited in the cylinder, and has been driven into the exhaust-pipe, where it catches fire on coming into contact with the incandescent gases discharged from the cylinder after the following explosion. ”

“ As the combustion of the core leaves, in the small space occupied by it, a carbonaceous residue, there is little or no passage left through the tamping by which the gases of the exploding charge may escape, as in the case of the squibs. Hence results an economy of force. Another advantage offered by the safety fuse is, that it may be made to carry the fire into the centre of the bursting charge if it be desired to produce rapid ignition. ”

“ Neither will it do to hold the lamp in a current of gaseous air moving at a greater rate of speed than six or eight feet per second, since in that case the flame is apt to be driven through the gauze and to set fire to the gas outside. There is also danger if the lamp be thrust suddenly into an explosive mixture that the force of the explosion inside the wire-gauze cylinder will force the flame through the mesh. It will be seen, therefore, that even the safety lamp is not an absolute protection against danger from explosive and inflammable gases. ”