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Subject:types of fire extinguishing agents:
From:Bill Davidson
Date:Fri, 10 Nov 2000 19:27:59 -0800

From the West Marine Catalogue: (p.718 of 2000 master catalogue)

"Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - good for Class B and Class C fires. No clean up.
Easy to use. Useful only in confined interior spaces. Does not cool fire.

Halon - no longer produced as a result of the environmentally hazardous CFCs
(chloroflourocarbons) it produces.

FE-241, FM-200 - relatively non-toxic Halon replacements are effective on
all fire classes. Not as effective as Halon. Expensive. [on page 719:
successors to Halon 1211 and 1301 which were effective, but too damaging to
the ozone layer. The FE-241 agent is for use only in unoccupied areas due to
its toxicity, but it is marginally more effective per pound than FM-200 and
has an ozone-depletion impact that is less than 1% of Halon 1211's. The
FM-200 agent is OK for occupied areas, but is slightly less effective and
inflicts no ozone depletion.]

Halotron 1- Newly EPA approved. Safe for computers, electronics, even clean
rooms, and requires no cleanup after use.

Dry Chemical - Low toxicity. Inexpensive. Effective on Class B and Class C
fires. Not effective on Class A fires. Difficult to clean up.

Tri-Class Dry Chemical - low toxicity. Inexpensive. Effective on Class B and
Class C fires. Moderately effective on Class A fires. Difficult to clean up.
Corrosive. Not a good choice for helm or nav station.

Aqueous Foam - this relatively new technology is extremely easy to use
effectively on Class A, B, and C fires. Avoid excessive skin or eye
contact."

Anybody have experience or know anything about this Aqueous Foam stuff?
Clean up?

Bill