Fire Extinguisher

[bbs428]

Great spot. Accessible but out of the way and no mounting bracket to fuss with.

[Dave S]

Just out of curiosity, Does anyone know how often a fire extinguisher is needed or used in the cabin? Statistics?

Any experiences with anyone having to discharge a FE in the cabin?

How serious a risk is a cabin fire?

Let's say, compared to an engine compartment fire, or, anything else?

Any lithium battery or panel experiences aloft?

I do know of folks who got the crap scared out of them with a capacitor popping, but that did not result in a fire, only some fouled clothing.

[Esser]

I have a small halon one mounted on right in front of the passenger stick on the sloped floorboard where it meets the flat board. Easy to get at and not in the way at all.

[jrthomas]

So educate me. I see Bass Pro Shops has boat type fire extinguishers from $29.99 to $39.99. All engine equipped boats are required to have one. They're supposedly good for fuel and electrical fires. Spruce cabin type extinguishers start at $161.99 up to $1029.00. Considering everything aviation related is priced "skyward", are these expensive extinguishers superior to the boat type?

[Esser]

They won’t corrode your plane when the media settles everywhere

[Dave S]

Esser's comment on corrosion and fire extinguishers is to be taken seriously.

The ingredient in "dry chemical" fire extinguishers (which I believe is what is used in boat FEs) is Ammonium phosphate (monoammonium phosphate or diammonium phosphate but often a combination of both)

Ammonium phosphate is a primary ingredient in agricultural fertilizers which supplies nitrogen and phosphorous.

Bottom line is it is a salt which, with a little atmospheric moisture, makes a really, really good corrosive electrolyte.

Think of discharging a dry chem FE inside an airplane as backing up a fertilizer spreader to your panel/cockpit and letting 'er rip.

[Bartman1959]

I'm pretty sure most dry chemical fire extinguishers warn against using in confined spaces.

[jrevens]

Just out of curiosity, Does anyone know how often a fire extinguisher is needed or used in the cabin? Statistics?...

I'm sure it's pretty rare, Dave. However, if you need it, and you have to dig for it, it might be too late. I have a friend who suffered a stuck, dragging brake (somehow ignored or unnoticed) that caused a fire which traveled up the brake line and into the engine compartment. This all happened during his taxi from hanger to the run-up area. When he saw the smoke he grabbed the extinguisher and jumped out to attack the fire. There was serious damage to the airplane, but he told me that if it had taken him only a few more seconds the airplane would've been a complete loss. Though rare, cockpit fires do occur. I wouldn't want to suffer a fuel leak on a line running through the cockpit, for instance, and not have an extinguisher easily at hand... just in case.

[HighWing]

Just out of curiosity, Does anyone know how often a fire extinguisher is needed or used in the cabin? Statistics?

I think about this question a lot. When my wife and I went down in my emergency landing - crash. We were sitting in the cockpit on the ground both dampened with fuel. My wife says her hair was smelling of fuel until it was washed in the hospital so not sure if we would have survived with or without an extinguisher. To the question - in the years since about 1995 when the early Kitfox email forums began I have no recollection of any reported inflight fire. A friend had a fire in his engine compartment while preheating one winter, but am unsure whether he used a cabin or hangar mounted fire extinguisher. I have experienced the stuck brake, but only melted the brake line - no fire.