Fire extinguisher - Fire sticks!?

[RemarkLima]

Hi all,

Looking to get a few bits sorted to get back into the odd track day and thinking that a fire extinguisher may be prudent... Not sure if the rules have changed at all, as they were never mandatory before?

Rather than go all race car, there's some that fit under the front of the seat but then saw these?

https://www.demon-tweeks.com/fire-safety-stick-han...

Are they any good? Seem like a much easier option to get mounted and secure, and keep handy without needing the full extinguisher? I'd need to take the seat out to mount a proper OEM extinguisher, no drama's but could do with avoiding the agro!

So, are they worth it?

[mmm-five]

Looks interesting...and here's the manufacturer's page with more info/videos.

https://firesafetystick.com/

[HustleRussell]

IMO your best course of action in the event of a fire at a trackday is always to park the car up at the first manned marshal post and let them deal with it, as they have fire resistant overalls, stout footwear, several massive extinguisher bottles and are trained to use them.

I am not sure you are going to extinguish all kinds of fire which might occur around a car with the fire stick. Presumably it's CO2, if you have a liquid pool fire it is not going to touch it, for example. Foam is needed.

ETA: Have just watched the video of the burning car, it actually looks quite effective in that example. Certainly better than nothing.

ETA ETA: Since we're talking about engine bay fires here I'll share the following. When there is smoke coming from under the bonnet the first instinct is to open the bonnet to get at the fire. This just gives the fire an unlimited amount of oxygen. It is always best to leave the bonnet down and discharge the extinguisher through the bonnet gap into the confined space of the engine bay.

Edited by HustleRussell on Friday 15th October 10:51

[RemarkLima]

That's what I'm thinking - I'd not want to die for the sake of a car, but if you could lob it under the car and run away, and then leave the rest to the marshals - it doesn't seem like a bad thing to have handy, just in case...

And a fairly decent testimonial here:
https://firesafetystick.com/motorsport/

[Escy]

I think they are a no brainer really, cheap, lightweight and easy to mount. They look like they perform well.

[phazed]

mmm-five said:

Looks interesting...and here's the manufacturer's page with more info/videos.

https://firesafetystick.com/

It did make me smile that the, "test vehicle" was an old Fiat!

Very impressive indeed.

[RemarkLima]

Looks like it's a potassium powder / gas...

https://firesafetystick.com/about/

It looks really interesting, I guess I have no idea how effective they are? It'd be good to see some 3rd party testing, but do look a bit of a no brainer!

[Kswap]

I’ve been looking at these. I’ll see if there’s any offers come Black Friday and get a 50s one.
It does seem you really have to stick your hand in the fire though and get stuck in.

https://www.vitalequipment.co.uk/products/fire-saf...

Edited by Kswap on Friday 15th October 12:18

[andy97]

They are gaining acceptance in the rally world and I think a couple of people recently have benefitted from them.

https://firesafetystick.com/fire-safety-stick-save...

A typical hand held extinguisher only lasts about 20 secs I think, thecFiresticks can be bought with Various durations from about 25 secs to 110.

https://www.clubmanmotorsport.com/product-page/fir...

Edited by andy97 on Friday 15th October 13:01

[996Type]

https://blazecut.com/t-series/

I’m probably going to buy and fit this all in one unit for the engine bay that in the event of a fire would breach right over the fire and hopefully put it out before I need to to get to it!

Was going to have a couple of the fire sticks in the cabin as well as back up….

[RemarkLima]

996Type said:

https://blazecut.com/t-series/

I’m probably going to buy and fit this all in one unit for the engine bay that in the event of a fire would breach right over the fire and hopefully put it out before I need to to get to it!

Was going to have a couple of the fire sticks in the cabin as well as back up….

Interesting... How hot does it need to get before it melts and activates? On a trackday, the engine bay temps could get very high, and you'd not want it going off without an actual fire!

[Rob_R]

I've bought one of these for my M3, y'know just in case. Hopefully I'll never have to find out how effective they are but they're chuffing practical as they just fit in the glove box and weigh about 500g.

[ecain63]

I have one in my Exige tucked beside the drivers seat. Might not be suitable for all fires, but it's better than nowt.

[RemarkLima]

ecain63 said:

I have one in my Exige tucked beside the drivers seat. Might not be suitable for all fires, but it's better than nowt.

That looks great - where did you get the clip? Was it the Firestick on that Demon Tweak sell? Or did you find something elsewhere?

Thinking that the 100 second one seems like a "why not" option really.

[ecain63]

RemarkLima said:

That looks great - where did you get the clip? Was it the Firestick on that Demon Tweak sell? Or did you find something elsewhere?

Thinking that the 100 second one seems like a "why not" option really.

The clip came with the stick. I bought it at Bicester Heritage last year from the trade stand they had there.