This is a repost of my old post in the forum back in 2011. Worth repeating here about the value of the 1kg extinguishers. No, it didn't put out a car fire.
But it bought valuable seconds to escape.
Quote:
Originally Posted by whynot
This story goes back about fifteen years or so (Edit: circa 1996) … the Missus was driving through Chermside when the car in front started to billow smoke. Everyone started flashing there lights and honking horns at the car. When it pulled over, flames shoot out from under the bonnet. A very pregnant driver gets out and immediately opens the rear door to start extracting kids, including one strapped into a child seat. (We later find out she was in labour and was dropping the kids off at her parent’s place.)
While this was happening, the Missus grabs the fire extinguisher from our car, runs over and sprays it through the front grill of the burning car to buy the driver more time to extract the kids. By the time our small extinguisher has been emptied, a truck driver had run over with his extinguisher. But, he didn’t know how to use it. Luckily, the Missus (who was also a nurse) had been trained on how to use it. She grabs the large extinguisher and dumps that through the grill as well. With all the kids safely out, everyone retreats. The car keeps burning until QFRS arrive, a very short period later.
I was very impressed with the Missus that day. When those “mother instincts” kick in it is amazing what they will do.
The moral of the story is about the truck driver who did not know how to use an extinguisher. A little bit of training and forethought goes a long way.
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