Fire Extinguisher Disaster.

Zoomup:

A lesson to be learned there I think.

Z.


 

I suspect so - I'd suggest we let Darwinian selection take control, but at least one of them has already managed to populate the gene pool 


What did your customer really think was going to happen with a loose extinguisher rolling about  - even if it didn't release, it was a missile just waiting to be launched into the back of someone's head in collision


I hope the Hospital send them a bill


Regards


OMS

Some years ago I was working in Cheltenham and a gas fitter arrived having driven down the M5 from Droitwich looking and sounding very harassed.


When I politely enquired if he was okay he said he had finished a job in Droitwich and thrown his tools he had been using into cardboard box and put that into the back of his van rather than putting everything in neatly as he had just fitted an identical hob in Droitwich so the tools he had out were exactly what he needed for the job in Cheltenham.


This simple plan all went wrong when the van hit a pothole at 70mph on the M5 and things shifted about in the back of the van, he heard a click and a whoosh as his Rothenburgher gas torch ignited itself setting fire to the cardboard box it was in with the other tools. He had to cut across two lanes of traffic to do a emergency stop on the hard shoulder then get the burning box out of the back of his van and salvage the contents.


Personally as I don’t use my gas torch daily I take the bottle off, but if you don’t just mind what how you store the assembled torch and bottle in the back of the van.


Andy 

Unlucky, as most fire extinguishers have some sort of clip or pin that needs removing, and a simple knock won't do it.

A number of possible fixes -

preferred is probably to fix the fire extinguisher

or to at least guard the trigger in some way

second is not to leave it in the van, and avoid having fires

third is not to carry passangers you can't get out quickly if the vehicle is not in good condition.

4th is to consider an extinguisher chemistry less likely to injure the occupants - is it in case the van catches fire or for removal to use where he is working  ?

If the latter dry powder may be not the best option (CO2 for sparks and  water for plumbers)



Mind you I'm probablky as bad, I had a moment earlier this year where the car filled with solvent cleaner at one point when the aerosol can got squashed by some camping equipment sliding about, and over the years I have had various things get under the pedals, like mats and my sandals, and once an escaped cat on the way to the cattery....

IMHO, AFFF is a much better option. Dry powder makes a right old mess of things even when used as intended.

mapj1:

... and once an escaped cat on the way to the cattery....

Been there, done that. The wife brought a cat into our marriage, but when she was away visiting relatives overseas one evening, he had a fit. I thought that I should take him to the vet before Mrs P came home. He was a fine cat, and not a bad mouser, but he had a nasty habit if he was put in a cage and taken anywhere. About a mile down the road, he would have a tom tit. ? I thought if I left him free, all would be well. It was, and he didn't relieve himself, but it was a bit difficult when he decided to lie by my feet - i.e. under the brake pedal. ?

Just to add to the list of things not to do, then - try and avoid hanging things around your neck and not taking them off when driving


I've just circulated a few bits for people to use in the safety moment section of any planned meetings - these are cases where keys on a lanyard, and an ID badge on a lanyard were explosively driven into a bowel and a lung respectively following a vehicle collision where the driver airbag deployed


Stay safe


OMS

Another point is if you do fit a fire extinguisher in its holder, think about where to fit it for ease/speed of access. The most likely location for a fire is the engine compartment, so I was astounded once to spot a fire extinguisher someone had mounted on the underside of his car's bonnet....

Some really good points here - I'd heard about the keys and the lanyard thing - Those airbags go off with a hell of a lot of force!


I've forwarded this thread over to our H&S guy to bring up at the next meeting, definitely a lesson or two to be learned here!