Another option for fire extinguishers

[sarabande]

The real problem, as stated earlier, is that regular pressurized fire extinguisher are compulsory...and the real expense and huge inconvenience is the regular checkups they require. I like the sound of these fire sticks.....would they work on an ev fire ?

As I understand from an acquaintance in the village who is a recently retired London Fire Brigade officer, once lithium EV batteries cook off, they are extremely difficult to put out, except with vast amounts of water . Even then re-ignition can take place. I cannot see any chance of a single firestick having a cat's chance in hell of putting out an EV fire.

In about 1987, I attended (as the County Emergency Planning Manager), a serious fire on the M5 near Bridgwater. A 12 tonne lorry was carrying assorted industrial waste from Westland Helicopters in Yeovil. In the waste were a number of lithium based batteries from military helicopters. Water in associated containers leaked onto the lithium batteries, which ignited. There were 4 appliances in attendance, and their full hose array had not the slightest effect on extinguishing the fire: the lorry burned through completely, and the adjacent road drains into the Somerset Levels were quite severely contaminated, requiring a Major Environmental Incident to be declared.


The LFB has a report on EV fires management. I will acquire a copy and paste it.

 

[sarabande]

I have found a report on EV fires from the Institute of Fire Engineers.

Tackling fires in electric vehicles


Quite frightening:- it's now recommended that the car is left to burn out while the Fire Response concentrates on protecting the immediate environment. It takes over a tonne of water every minute to put out an EV fire, and the remnants can re-ignite days later.

 

[BabaYaga]

I cannot seem to find any ratings for the two product variants. They claim suitable for A, B, C, E and F fires, but no numbers. Any one else found them?

 

[greeny]

After all the comments which are valued, I still think they are worth having as a first shot at the fire. For insurance reasons I would continue to carry the dry powder/co2 and they would serve as backup.
I contacted the supplier yesterday but they can only supply in UK and Ireland. They are available though on mainland Europe although they are marketed under different names in different countries. They are going to contact the manufacturer in Italy and request them to contact me and pass on information about stockists and availability on the Iberian peninsular.

 

[Clancy Moped]

I dealt with these guys who shipped them to Spain.

Fire Safety Stick

 

[PetiteFleur]

Look very interesting and I like that it no powder extinguisher as they make a horrendous mess - on my boat I fitted two water mist and a Halon replacement type in the engine bay years ago. I'll check the expiry date when next on board as they must be about 14 yrs old.
Foxs chandlery have the 50 second Fire safety stick for £69.95 . I may be tempted...

 

[dankilb]

The options aren’t only between fire stick or powder - how about AFFF (foam) or ‘hybrid’ types (e.g. Firexo is some sort of water/foam/antifreeze mix)? Water mist is also good if you are confident in preventing it from ever freezing.

We don’t have powder on the boat but neither are our extinguishing options necessarily newfangled!

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

According to their website, the Fire Sticks are in use with Kent Fire & Rescue so they can't be all that bad surely?

Why not contact KF&R and see what they say.
Contact us | Kent Fire and Rescue Service

 

[penfold]

As I understand from an acquaintance in the village who is a recently retired London Fire Brigade officer, once lithium EV batteries cook off, they are extremely difficult to put out, except with vast amounts of water . Even then re-ignition can take place. I cannot see any chance of a single firestick having a cat's chance in hell of putting out an EV fire.

In about 1987, I attended (as the County Emergency Planning Manager), a serious fire on the M5 near Bridgwater. A 12 tonne lorry was carrying assorted industrial waste from Westland Helicopters in Yeovil. In the waste were a number of lithium based batteries from military helicopters. Water in associated containers leaked onto the lithium batteries, which ignited. There were 4 appliances in attendance, and their full hose array had not the slightest effect on extinguishing the fire: the lorry burned through completely, and the adjacent road drains into the Somerset Levels were quite severely contaminated, requiring a Major Environmental Incident to be declared.


The LFB has a report on EV fires management. I will acquire a copy and paste it.

If the unsegregated waste had any magnesium scrap(quite feasible as it's used as a lighter substitute for aluminium) once lit it would be very difficult to extinguish, although with unsegregated waste what causes the ignition may never be discovered. Whatever lithium cells might have been present were nothing like the lithium cells which power phones or those in Teslas as they hadn't reached the market in 1987; they would have been single use primary cells from emergency equipment.

 

[Roberto]

Something to keep in mind is they look a lot like flares: I used to keep them in a locker with other general safety stuff and of course flares, once I was showing the crew piece by piece and almost got confused
Oh and by the look of it one might be tempted to extinguish a fire with the red/yellow tube of the VHF emergency antenna.