What size of fire extinguisher suits a rig truck

By shorthood2006 (****)

Date 01-05-2009 01:11

i have a 20lb ABC. What kind of work ya doing? Rig yards that i worked in dont even require one. How big of fire extinguisher did you get?

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 01-05-2009 01:20

you mean i'm supposed to have an extinguisher on my truck well nobody told me nothing

By shorthood2006 (****)

Date 01-05-2009 01:23

you dont need one shad...arent you the fire man? makin your rounds all over town putting out ol flames!

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 01-05-2009 01:28

lol i just make my rounds lol

By Smooth Operator (***)

Date 01-05-2009 01:36

Shad If you have a 3/4 ir bigger DOT says you have to carry an extingusher. Fine for empty or no extinguisher is $200.00. GO STEELERS AND PENS

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 01-05-2009 01:42

the DOT varies by state where do you live i'm in texas and have been running for years w/o 1 and have been stopped and nobody ever said nuthin

By Smooth Operator (***)

Date 01-05-2009 02:06

Shad, live in W. PA. But have been Inspected in about every state up and down the east coast. NY-----FL. Also used to move trailers commercialy for a transport company and you needed a federal DOT inspection and ex. was always 1st question asked. Buy a 20#er at lowes or home depot you won't be sorry. Was working in Pittsburgh on a 21 story parking garage about 10 yrs. ago. Fire broke out at nite on top floor, next day all subs had to have 2 ex. at every floor we were working on ,cost me big money for 42 ex. but didn't want to make waves and get run off. GO STEELERS AND PENS

By Johnyutah (**)

Date 01-05-2009 01:36

If you carry bottles or any hazmat type material you are required to carry one. As for on the job that is up to the contractors insurance company on some refinery and mine jobs we are required to carry one one each side of the truck and they must be visible.

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 01-05-2009 01:45

I'm nopt saying any of you are wrong just saying i never heard nothing and have been stopped by city and state and nobody ever said nothing except for the border patrol that stopped me and asked about my oxyben bottles i told him theres a torch in the box fire it up evedently they are smuggling drugs out of mexico in the bottles

By shorthood2006 (****)

Date 01-05-2009 01:51

they are not enforcing it in oklahoma, either.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 01-05-2009 03:39

Having seen that picture A Evald posted of the acetylene tank blowing it's safety, You either want to get the fire out fast or run like hell. You sure don't want to face that blaze with Your fire extinguisher.

By Johnyutah (**)

Date 01-05-2009 03:45

I agree no 20# extinguisher would even slow down the 50 gallons of fuel most of us carry let alone the bottles but if that's what the man want's thats what the man gets if it all went up I would be spraying that thing over my shoulder as I ran.

By Jssec

Date 01-05-2009 03:48

In Ky if the vehicle is owned by an individual and not a company DOT rules do not apply. I tried to get DOT # and was refused.

By fbrieden (***)

Date 01-05-2009 03:28

How much is your rig worth to you? The bigger the better!

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 01-05-2009 07:43 Edited 01-05-2009 07:46

if the rig catches fire it's already to late by the time you get the extinguisher out of the mount it's to late thats why theres insurance run like hell and watch it blow

By dsmtuner (*)

Date 01-06-2009 04:57

I pretty much want one so if I happen to catch anything like sage or weeds on fire I can keep the fire away from my truck. Thats my main concern. I got a 15 i think for x mas. I will take it back and get a 20 it sounds like thats the one to go with.

Thanks

By 803056

Date 01-06-2009 13:01

The real question is, "How big a truck do you need to carry the fire extinguisher?" :)

Best regards - Al

By dsmtuner (*)

Date 01-07-2009 03:27

^^ Wtf is that supposed to mean? How big a truck? I wanna put the fire extinguisher on my rig. I dont want to cruise around in a fire truck.

By 803056

Date 01-07-2009 04:57

Let me try a different one.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?"

Al :)

By darren

Date 01-07-2009 20:36 Edited 01-07-2009 20:43

the real question is what was the chickens motivation for crossing the road before he actually crossed because his position for crossing may have been changed by the act of crossing. quantum chicken mechanics or otherwise known as Schrodinger's essay on the superposition and potential of the chicken/road paradox
the more fire protection the better up to a point.
have everything official and a couple of hand pump water extinguishers is good so you can put out small fires without dousing the whole area in chemicals or spending money on recharging the co2 kind.

had a fire suppression unit go off on a brand new cat dozer one night, sensor malfunction, that was a HUGE mess and very hard to clean up and very expensive to replace.
darren

By 803056

Date 01-08-2009 04:50

Excellent. :)

Al

By RioCampo (***)

Date 01-07-2009 03:29

If thats what your looking for go buy a fire extinguisher service place and order a water cannon. It is a stainless steel tank that you fill with water. You simply air it up like an air tank. All you have to do to refill is pop the top and stick a hose in.
They are about 120-150 bucks around here.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 01-07-2009 03:36

Good point, water is the best for a brush fire, or any "A" fire. I think You will still want a dry chemical unit for "B"&"C" fires.

By OsageOil (*)

Date 01-07-2009 04:23

RioCampo has a good point with the water cannon. Another option is the Indian backpack sprayer used by the rural fire departments and the forestry service. They hold five gallon of water and have a brass hand pump that you pump just like your Remington 870 or model 12 Winchester. They will shoot about 25'to 30' with the stream nozzle and about 10' to 15' with the fan (spray) nozzle. I wouldn't want to make it a habit of carrying one on my back but they are great for sitting close by if you are anywhere near grass. For some reason when I weld I can catch 1/2" tall bermuda grass on fire after a summer thunderstorm quicker than a cat can lick its tail.

The Indian sprayers are still made in the U.S.A. can be purchased through an outfit called Forestry Suppliers.

All it takes is one bad experience with fire and you won't go out without an extinguisher.

By uphill

Date 01-07-2009 13:02

Ever since I cause a 20 acre fire up in colorado cutting off dozer cutting edge bolts I always have something that will put out a fire(dnr wasnt too happy but no fine). I carried a Indian backpack sprayer for years and should do it again as they are a lot better for cooling off small parts than water from the cooler. Damn right of ways seem to be flammable. Anyway they work great when you fill them aout half full of ice and shock load peoples hearts when the stream of 35 deg water hits them, great for parades and the like.
Dot requires a fire ext in any vehical over 10,000GVW so buying a $50 ext seems like the thing to do compaired to the fine and the attn.If your state does not enforce that part of the law which other part of the safety regs dont they feel are required? Brakes? We all have kinfolk and people who might be stuck in a burning car that a fire ext might help. I have used a few ext on vehicals in traffic and on one horse trailer with burning tire.
Just a thought.
Dave

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 01-08-2009 23:31

i understand that actually ran into an accident like that when i caught a field on fire building a set of pens drug my torch,hose and leads about 200ft to get the truck away from it it's funny now but it wasnt when it happened scared me to death

By tazmannusa (**)

Date 01-09-2009 02:59

//if the rig catches fire it's already to late by the time you get the extinguisher out of the mount it's to late thats why theres insurance run like hell and watch it blow//
Na you would be suprised they dont blow that quick, I have had a few fires over the years one was my izuzu npr welding truck, we were welding trusses up and I saw black smoke bellowing out the windows and the dash was on fire so I jumped from the manlift grabed an old jacket and smotherd it out, couple guys came runnin with extinguishers but I didnt want the cab filled with that stuff. truck still ran fine just the center of dash was melted to the floor. Another time I was standing on the ladder rack welding trusses and the welder gas tank cought fire and was shooting a flame about 3 feet in the air from the cap like a blow torch, smotherd that one out to. Worst one i can remember was being about 25' up in the manlift welding away when it died, I lifted my helmet and looked over the side the whole bottom of that thing was engulfed in flames, talk about scary no where to run but down to the flames.
Tom

By Douglas Main (*)

Date 01-09-2009 03:07

Thank goodness never had any of your bouts taz! I think the worst is catching brush on fire out here with a grinder or scarfing tip! When it catches out of your line of sight it dont take much to fell the heat, before you see the fire!

D. Main

By tazmannusa (**)

Date 01-09-2009 04:34

Yep when working way up off the ground,magnatised pipe and a little wind you can catch things on fire a long way away. Whats sad is how many people dont even think about fire and welding, I dont know how many times I have been up in the manlift welding looked down when changing rods to see someone filling it up with gas directly below me or setting a couple plastic full gas cans with no caps directly under where Im welding.
I guess the moral of the story is allways keep an eye out for what others are doing around you, might be safe one minute and explosive the next.
Here's a kinda funney one for ya, years ago my younger brother was helping me on a large dairy remodel job, I had to go to another dairy that day to do some repairs and left him there welding pipe trusses up, he was in the manlift about 20' up anyway he decided to take a brake, jumps in his subaru car goes to store and comes back parking his car next to manlift with windows open and the car is full of trash, dirty close ect. he goes up and starts welding, about 5 minutes latter the car goes up in flames so the **** hauler that working in the corral comes to the rescue with his loader and a full bucket of dirt, dumps it on the car and the flames go out. perfect the fire is out but the car is only about a foot tall with 4 flat tires!

By Johnyutah (**)

Date 01-09-2009 04:49

I lit the batteries on fire in a scissor lift that was one of the worst falls I have ever had, I told the workers there was a extinguisher on the truck but I couldn't say it in spanish. So they just watched until the combined fumes of batteries and fluid was to much then concrete good times.

By FixaLinc (****)

Date 01-08-2009 20:19

Anything below 20# is pi$$in in the wind. ABC covers them all but a water ext or back pack like others mentioned or even a common cheap garden sprayer with water in it is better than nothing for shrub fire. Don't forget to add non flammable antifreeze mix in winter for water extinguishers.

http://amerex-fire.com/main.asp

http://amerex-fire.com/Literature/water_foam.pdf

By gshuma

Date 01-09-2009 01:38

I was building a stairway one time when someone yelled "watcha havin a weenie roast over there". When I finished the rod and looked up the pile of prints was burnin away. After that I always have an extinguisher nearby.

By TozziWelding (**)

Date 01-09-2009 20:49

I carry, a water extinguisher that is great, free to use, and refillable. I have a 20# dry chem in the bed, a small 2 pounder in the cab, and a bunch more in the garage if the job requires them.