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Just last week I finished my fire extinguisher training. Here's what they said (its for work, but I asked about cars and garages).
The dry chemical (class A, B, C) put out gas/flammable liquid, electrical, and paper/wood/rubber.
This one is the recommended one as it puts out just about everything.
They do destroy electronics - so much so that if you will likely write your car off if you fire one of these at it.
You also need an industrial clean-up crew as the particles are too small for a normal vacuum to trap.
CO2 are for class B and C fires (gas/flammable liquid, electrical). They will also work on paper/wood/rubber but are not recommended as they tend to blow that stuff around (causing more fires) and don't provide continued suppression for burning wood or rubber - so it may light up again. Firing that on a hot engine component could crack it (as they are super cool), but its cheaper than writing off all electronics in the engine compartment or entire car.
Class D are for exotic flammable metals, so if your magnesium wheels are on fire, you'll need one of these - but they don't put out anything else.
Haylon is now a banned substance, as its a serious ozone destroying chemical. There's a replacement one that has haylon-something in the name. Its also really deadly - much more so than CO2 (which will kill you if you get shot in the face).
Class K are for kitchen fires (grease). This is the foam one that foams up a good foot and a half thick. Easy to clean up - highly recommended for a kitchen.
The fireman putting the course on said the dry chemical (for a car or garage) is the way to go as your primary concern is stopping the fire - but it will destroy electronics. He said if you fire it in garage, it could fly all over and destroy any electronics it gets on - he cited on garage fire where one was used and it put out the car fire but also destroyed the guy's Harley (which wasn't near the fire). But then again, he didn't have to re-build his garage and nobody got hurt.
The dry chemical (class A, B, C) put out gas/flammable liquid, electrical, and paper/wood/rubber.
This one is the recommended one as it puts out just about everything.
They do destroy electronics - so much so that if you will likely write your car off if you fire one of these at it.
You also need an industrial clean-up crew as the particles are too small for a normal vacuum to trap.
CO2 are for class B and C fires (gas/flammable liquid, electrical). They will also work on paper/wood/rubber but are not recommended as they tend to blow that stuff around (causing more fires) and don't provide continued suppression for burning wood or rubber - so it may light up again. Firing that on a hot engine component could crack it (as they are super cool), but its cheaper than writing off all electronics in the engine compartment or entire car.
Class D are for exotic flammable metals, so if your magnesium wheels are on fire, you'll need one of these - but they don't put out anything else.
Haylon is now a banned substance, as its a serious ozone destroying chemical. There's a replacement one that has haylon-something in the name. Its also really deadly - much more so than CO2 (which will kill you if you get shot in the face).
Class K are for kitchen fires (grease). This is the foam one that foams up a good foot and a half thick. Easy to clean up - highly recommended for a kitchen.
The fireman putting the course on said the dry chemical (for a car or garage) is the way to go as your primary concern is stopping the fire - but it will destroy electronics. He said if you fire it in garage, it could fly all over and destroy any electronics it gets on - he cited on garage fire where one was used and it put out the car fire but also destroyed the guy's Harley (which wasn't near the fire). But then again, he didn't have to re-build his garage and nobody got hurt.