Another SOB disaster (fire)

[Ryan Wright]

Terry,

I personally would not put an automatic extinguishing system back
there unless it was designed for that purpose, but something you could
activate yourself would be nice. Certainly some sort of fire alarm
would be a good idea, along with a camera or separate engine area
thermometer to verify before you push the "oh shit" button.

A member of a car forum I used to be involved with custom built
himself an engine fire extinguishing system. It was basically a couple
of large extinguishers mounted away from the engine, connected to
hoses pointed to maximize foam distribution. He used a pair of NOS
valves with a push-button in the dash to activate. Last I heard he
still hasn't had to use it, so who knows how effective it would be. He
did test with water and it all worked, just not sure if it would
really put a fire out.

Halon is a good idea but I wonder if it will displace enough oxygen.
Consider the engine will probably be running in the event of a fire,
which means you're sucking in tons of air with the radiator fan. If
you shut the engine down before activating the system, it might work,
but I'd think if you were on the move you'll still be introducing too
much oxygen to be effective. Then again I am far from an expert on the
specifics of halon fire extinguishing systems.

Lastly: I don't know about the rest of you, but if my engine did catch
fire, my only focus would be slowing the fire enough to get the coach
to the side of the road and get everyone out alive. To be honest, I'd
almost rather the whole darned thing burn, rather than deal with
replacing the back 1/3rd of the coach. At least then I could get a new
coach, rather than a halfway restored who knows if it's really right
job. Good luck trying to sell it down the road, people have enough
problems without dealing with this sort of history. So if you're not
trying to save the coach, it makes the fire suppression system a lot
easier to build. Just spray a big load of foam all over the darn
place. Just enough to slow the fire so you can make a timely escape.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92
Tri-Cities, WA


On 7/14/07, Terry Neal wrote:
>
> Gee Don,
>
> Those folks are real lucky to be alive. I saw a similar fire a couple
> of weeks ago on I90. Was going home to Bozeman in the evening & a
> church group bus (I think it was an MCI 9) caught fire in the rear
> engine compartment. Everyone got out ok but the bus basically just
> melted into the pavement on the Interstate. Fire dept. trucks tried to
> put it out with foam but it was too far gone by the time they got there.
>
> Makes a person want to think about some sort of heat alarm system for
> the back end? Possibly along with a Halon type extinguisher system?
> Maybe include a camera in that compartment too? By the time you get one
> of these stopped, it's probably going to be too late to do much with the
> small extinguishers most of us carry anyway.
>
> Thanks for sharing this with the group.
>
> Terry Neal
> Bozeman, MT
> 82PT40 6V92TA
> 74FC34 6V53T