Bird of the Week 06/26

[mrkane1952]

Guess Ron's luck was only half-bad.

I discovered just how useless those dry-chemical
extinguishers can be when I was trying to suppress
a vehicle fire on the highway outside this campground
last March. (A sedan, pulling out on the highway, was struck
from behind by a small pickup going ~70.) A garden-style
hose from the campground water faucet was also about as helpful
as a biological, self-generated stream would have been.
Fortunately that was just after a rain storm so the gasoline
from the ruptured tank burned like candle flames in the
ditches along the road, rather than spreading to the RVs
behind the wooden fencing along the roadway (including mine!)
Was only able to put the flames down long enough to verify no
one was still inside.

Since then I carry a shovel and an assortment of foam
extinguishers, including a 1.5-gallon unit from Mac
the fireguy: <http://www.macthefireguy.com>. Mac does
the rounds of the RV rallies giving hands-on training,
but there are many other sources.

The VFD arrived in about 25-30 minutes, and it still took
more than 5 minutes to put the car out with their foam.
The sedan driver and his dog had only bumps, etc.

Ron's misfortune might serve as a reminder to the rest to
check those old extinguishers tucked away around the coach,
or to upgrade them to newer technology units.

--M.R.Kane
1987 PT40
currently near Livingston, TX