Enclosed Rigs...Fire Suppression System?

PeakOfPerfection

New member
My recent saga with my Hot Water Dragon got me to thinking. I have an enclosed NPR with gas and diesel tanks onboard, and two large gas engine pieces of equipment...a big hot water pressure washer and a big air screw compressor. There are lots of heat sources...burners, exhaust, etc. and fuel. There is always a risk for fire in circumstances like this. With as much work and expense as goes into building a rig like this, an onboard automatic fire suppression system seems like a natural thing to have.

So...anybody here run one and if so, what do you run and have you ever had to use it?
 
I would imagine it would need to be something other than water?? Considering all the fuel inside the trailer... With that being said, what type of cleanup would be involved if everything is doused with foam or other products... May actually be less time consuming to have to rebuild the trailer with insurance money than to clean every nook and cranny of every machine?
 
It's best to simply have multiple "dry" chemical extinguishers on board. You would need a source of water for a foam system. In a lot of cases, Plain water would spread the fire if you end up with any type of fuel leak. The dry chemical will create one hell of a mess however, It would snuff out the fire faster by robbing it of oxygen. Don't waste your money on disposables. You need the rechargeable ones and at least 10 pounders. Not the little home based units.

Next time you fill up at your local gas station, Take notice of what they have at the pump isles. Of course, this is if they have them there. Most of our stations do.

Another thing is, Make sure you purchase the additional "rider" policy with your general liability insurance. I have a $25,000 rider for my policy which covers all of my equipment including my trailer from fire, theft, or natural disaster.

Mike
 
I'm thinking along the lines of an automated Marine Halon or CO2 system. Maybe they make suppression systems for big rigs and box trucks? Those types of systems are gasses, so there is no cleanup necessary other than dealing with anything burned. Even a traditional powder or foam system can be cleaned up along with whatever burned while the fire was going.

Insurance is in place and it will cover equipment loss. But it won't cover for lost revenue from a total loss nor the man hours it would take to rebuild a new system from ground zero. Having manual fire extinguishers onboard makes perfect sense. But my thinking Is that 90% chances are that if a fire is going to start, it will do so while you are away from the truck cleaning. By the time you realized there was a fire and got back to the truck, it would be raging in the interior fed by fuel and combustibles. I don't think I would want to get near it to try to reach inside to grab a fire extinguisher. I like my gear, but with 30 gallons of explosive gasoline and 20 gallons of diesel plus the various chemicals used in exterior cleaning on board, thats going to be a lot of heat and toxic smoke. That is why I thinking an automated fire suppression system would be best so it puts it out before it has the chance to spread and the truck is fully involved. Certainly a backup extinguisher externally mounted is a good idea. Thoughts?
 
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