I always carry a fire extinguisher in every vehicle I own. (My boat actually has two.) And I always tell folks that you’ll never need it for a fire in your own vehicle. Tonight on the way home from work, that’s exactly what happened. Even though I wasn't driving my F-150, I have the same emergency equipment in the Scion xB I was driving.

I was about 3 miles from home on a two lane residential street in a line of cars doing about 40 MPH. All of a sudden, I smelled smoke. Then, I started to see smoke in the road in front of me. All of a sudden, the car directly in front of me dove into the opposite lane and laid on his horn. The car in front of him was clearly in flames – which I could now clearly see filling the whole space under the car. The driver – due to the other guy’s horn – was now aware something was dreadfully wrong and pulled over.

I then did several things in rapid succession. First, I turned on my headlights and four way flashers. Then, I released and grabbed the fire extinguisher mounted in front of my passenger seat. I then stopped, blocking my lane of traffic and set the brake on the way out the door. The man driving the car on fire and his passenger were just starting to get out as I got to the driver’s door. I asked if anybody else was in the car and they said no. I then told them that they had about a minute to grab anything valuable and pulled the hood release – which didn’t feel like it did anything. Smoke was rolling out from under the hood at a pretty good clip as I kicked the grill and hood. (Never grab the hood of a burning car.) The hood wouldn’t budge – probably because the release cable had already burned through – so I went underneath as I pulled the pin on the extinguisher. I gave a quick shot up under the hood, but just couldn’t get a decent shot at the real base of the flames. So, I went to each wheel well and shot through there as best I could. It was pretty clear that at best, I was slowing down the inevitable, so I asked if anybody had called 911 – which they had. I then suggested one last valuables grab as the whole front of the car went up in flames. It was now time to retreat and wait for the pros. I then noticed that nobody else had stopped to help.

The fire department arrived within 3-4 minutes, but it was too late for the car – a 2002 Pontiac. They eventually used the jaws to pop the hood. The fire was contained to the under hood area and dashboard, but the thing was a total loss. Thankfully, we were able to save the driver’s instruments (he’s a musician) and a bunch of other stuff. As for everything else, that’s why you have insurance.

Talking to the driver and passenger as the fire department hosed down the smoldering wreck, they were both very appreciative of what I did. They said they were going to buy a fire extinguisher right away for their next car. I then offered them some advice. First, don’t buy and extinguisher if you don’t know how to use one. Second, don’t put one in your car and not know exactly where it is. (Remember, I had mine in my hand before I even came to a stop.) Finally, I showed them the snap punch I also carry to break out a side window in case somebody is trapped. (It’s painted bright orange and carried in my glove box.)

So, how prepared are you to help a fellow motorist in need?

 

Honestly, I feel like less of a man after reading this.

I keep a glock 26 loaded and chambered in my glovebox. I trained weekly for two years to become comfortable with subcompact handguns, an make sure I shoot once a month to stay fresh. I am comfortable enough with it that in the case of, what I would consider, an emergency... I can defend myself and or passengers. That's my one and only concern. As far as cars burning up... Let her burn.

 

x2 Thanks for doing the right thing!!

 

seriously, way to be. i carry tools, ****** strap, etc but no fire extinguisher. ill stop and help push someone out of an intersection etc but thats not an emergency. i do know how to use a fire extinguisher. one thing i hope they do when they purchase a fire extinguisher is to get the correct class

 

First off, way to go!

I feel pretty prepared, however still don't have a fire extinguisher.

Listing off a little bit of what I keep in the truck just in case:
-First aid with an emergency blanket, tinder, and a fire starter
-lighter
-blankets
-Knife with seat belt cutter
-Glass breaker
-Basic tools
-2 flashlights
-4 umbrellas
-fleece jacket
-windbreaker
-about a dozen water bottles
-6 packs of peanut butter crackers (on average... I get hungry)

Sounds about it for "incase" to help fellow motorists... couple other odds and ins. And as with Gcart, I've got my Glock 19 and a bigger knife....

 

Also, I will add in that I drive a focus now... It doesn't have quite the room of my old pickup.

In my truck I kept one of those road side emergency kits that have all your basics in it, as well as my craftsman toolset. Always kept a chain to pull people out, spare tire, etc.

 

Thanks guys. I'd love to have been able to write that I put out the fire, saved the car and dragged a little old lady to safety or something. But, I did the best I could with the cards I was dealt. The fire department guys were impressed with my actions and the people in the car walked away without a scratch - which was the most important thing.

I should note that in my F-150, I carry a long list of safety equipment including a jump box, floor jack, tow strap, chain with J-hooks, two fire extinguishers, a snap punch for breaking side windows, and a full tool box - just to name a few. But, having all of this stuff isn't worth a plug nickel if you don't know what to do or how to use the stuff.

The biggest differences between myself and everybody else who drove right by last night were that I was prepared, I knew what to do - and I actually stopped. So please, next time you see somebody in need, stop and help them. If you don't want to because you're not prepared or don't know how - do something about it! You never know when you'll be the one in need.

 

NOPE!

A simple ABC is NOT going to put out a car fire. Sorry to rain on your parade, but if you were successful in opening that hood, the fire department would've arrived to nothing but four rims and a charred carcass.

Unless you've got at least a 1-3/4" line with about 500 gallons of water and full SCBA, do not open the hood of a burning vehicle!!

 

A Men brotha! You see my vehicle on fire, you gotta get through me to try and put it out. Last thing you want is a fire damaged vehicle that the insurance company won't total out and you have to get it fixed. Bump that. You try to put my vehicle out on fire you'll need a hand gun also for self defense

But seriously...I don't have a fire extuinguisher in my car because I'll make no attempt to save it due to the stated reason.

 

You're preaching to the choir. I do have fire fighting training. I would never open the hood. All I wanted to do was crack it open so I could unload the extinguisher from a better angle.

And as for a simple ABC extinguisher not being able to put out a car fire, that's not the point. What it will do is put out a small fire and / or give you some precious extra minutes (as it did the other day) to get everybody out safely.

 

Touche, from my limited nightly skimming, it sounded like you tried to open the hood. I've been to too many interstate fires where people would do just that to unload a tiny 5lb extinguisher and by the time we get there, its a smoldering hunk of steel. Heck, without foam, my 450 gal brush truck is barely enough for a small pickup/SUV

 

I was involved in an incident similar to the OP's just a week ago. A large dump truck lost a tire and didn't know it and kept going until both tires and rims came off of the hub. One tire and rim left the scene and the other was caught under the hub and drug until it over heated enough that the tire exploded and caught fire. A cop and I pulled pulled over and we put the fire out using both the cop's and the truck's extingishers. (I didn't have one :-( We just did manage to get the fire out but then after a couple of minutes it burst back into flames from the heat of the damaged wheel and hub. At that point we could only watch as it burned until the FD showed up. IF I'd had an extnguisher I'm sure that we could have kept the fire down until the FD arrived and prevented a lot of danage to the truck.

So my quesion is where is a good place to keep an extinguisher in the F150 truck? I wish these trucks had an outside accessible door for the extinguisher the way that large trucks do. I have several large 20# commercail type extinguishers that I keep in the house and garage but they're pretty big and I don't have a good place to carry one inside the truck and I'm afraid it would be stolen or damaged due to whether exposure if I carried it in the bed. These extingishers are about 6" in diameter not including the horn and about 2 foot tall and weigh about 30 pounds. Large, yes but I won't carry or keep one unless I'm sure that it's large enough to be effective. BTW when I was a kid, my sister was trying to make candles and caught a large pot of wax on fire while our parents were out. It nearly burnt down the kitchen but I put it out with one of these so I know these are effective!

 

Sure it would we pull up all the time to a small engine fire and the cop has put it out with his fire extinguisher taking all the fun away

Were not talking about a fully engulfed car fire here

 

Good on you for stopping Tom. I really need to put a fire extinguisher in my truck.

This is what I carry most of the time

2 recovery straps
D Ring rated for about 30,000 lbs
Socket set
Leatherman
Tire pressure gauge
Tie downs
Trigger start propane torch
Logging chain
Mag Light
Ax
Shovel
Rope
Gorilla Tape
Rain suit
Spray grease for the fifth wheel hitch
Rifle and at least 60 rounds of ammo
Pistol and ammo (I have at least one with me)
Spring loaded center punch for breaking car windows
Oil
Gloves
Munchies
Fuses
Tape measure
Pens
Mini Legal pads
Knife (I normally carry two on me but ya never know)
First Aid kit
Yoga mat to sleep on if I get stranded or have to lay under the truck
Truckers Atlas
Michigan Atlas & Gazetteer

There is probably more that I'm forgetting. And I wonder why truck weighs over 8,200 Lbs.

 

Amen to that! With an engine compartment fire, with the right and proper way, you are fully capable on knocking it out. Not saying that the fire department shouldnt be called, because they most definitely should be especially for overhaul and make sure it didn't get into the compartment so that when the rollback is carrying it away, there isn't a big hunk of free burning metal on the back by the time they get to the junkyard.

So in other words, if you have some fire extinguisher training (watched youtube and practiced at least once) and feel confident about helping, by all means, stop and help. If something doesn't feel right, don't be a hero to a loss anyway. Use your head and discression.