Bird of the Week 06/26

[John]

All most all of the extinguishers that come with any coach serve just one purpose, that is to fill a federal requirement that they carry one. The coaches come with one, but it's not much good for anything other than filling that requirement. When we think about how much money we have tied up in our Birds a couple of great extinguishers is a very small drop in the bucket.

John

----- Original Message -----

From: "ernietex@yahoo.com"

To: "WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com"

Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 15:15

Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Bird of the Week 06/26

Very good point, Mike about those extinguishers. I have 2 of the small ones in my coach and they probably would be good at putting out nothing of any substance. Ernie Ekberg 83PT40 Wanderlodge Weatherford, Tx http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/erniesremodelingandrepair --- On Sun, 6/28/09, mrkane1952 <"mrkane@isp.com"> wrote: From: mrkane1952 <mrkane@...> Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Bird of the Week 06/26 To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009, 5:09 PM 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.macthefi reguy.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