OK
I have to chime in now...ditto to the English Fireman. I have had too much
experience with both Halon and car fires.
Halon is no longer used in the fire service....except where grandfathered
for computer uses.   As a young Navy officer I spent my 26th birthday adrift
on a wooden minesweeper, following a combined boiler room and radio
(computer) space fire.   Nasty aftertaste et al.  Quiet though, almost like
being at sea under sail.
As a firefighter, I, too, have seen hundreds of auto fires. Very few autos
explode; usually won't, unless impinged upon by a separate fire and then
when in a relatively enclosed area. FWIW, our vans' tanks are fairly forward
of the engine and are thus insulated from normal engine space fires.
Our extinguishment of choice is high volume water...cools and removes
burning fuel at the same time.  If a standard extinguisher (A-B-C) is used,
one can flush the remaining powder to prevent corrosion. Fire is probably
the most irrepairable damage one can have in an auto, I'll take a little
corrosive PKP/light water or water damage any day compared to fire damage to
my engine compartment.
--
Stephen Steele(Fire Fighter/EMT-P, President of IAFF Local #300...who didn't
support algore...or GWB for that matter.)
'91 Caravelle
'84 Westy
Chillicothe, OH

----------
>From: Bill Davidson <wdavidson@THEGRID.NET>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Re: fire extinguisher info for vanagons
>Date: Fri, Nov 10, 2000, 4:00 PM
>

> The powder in an A,B,C type
> extinguisher is very corrosive and difficult to remove from cars once
> applied. That's where there is additional damage in the long term through
> rust.
>
> Bjorn,
> corrosive to an aluminum engine?
> any idea which stuff would be affected most?
> (yikes, copper wires!)
> any idea what it takes to clean an engine up after using an ABC in there?
>
> thanks,
> Bill
>