r/Firefighting • u/AffableEffable • May 17 '25

Ask A Firefighter Is This Retired Firefighter's Claim About Putting Out a Car Fire Correct?

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Hi, I ran into this discussion on twitter, and most people in the comments were really mad at the ELBainter person (who claims to be a retired firefighter). I know absolutely nothing about any of this, so I was curious: are they right and the people there are just stupid, the opposite, or something in between?

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u/SwimmingPen9652 May 17 '25

Career firefighter with 26yrs. There is exactly 0 chance you are putting out/stopping/slowing that fire with two little dry chemical extinguishers. That car is toast. Far better chance that somebody gets hurt trying or sucks in a few breaths of really toxic smoke and ends up in hospital.

15

u/robertbuzbyjr May 17 '25

Or worse - dead , so many plastics, and chemicals in the composites of newer cars a self contained breathing apparatus ( scba aka the air tank and mask us firefighters use).

5

u/Seanpat68 May 18 '25

Relax I’m more worried about breathing in the dry chem than the smoke from the car

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u/Jim_Cruz May 18 '25

That smoke can have any number of harmful chemicals. Those fires can give off Pfas (forever chemicals), PAHs (cancerous hydrocarbons, dioxins, oh and hydrogen cyanide. It's obviously much worse if it's an electric vehicle, but the dry chemical is hardly the worst of it.

2

u/Seanpat68 May 18 '25

All the things you mentioned, saved for hydrogen cyanide will not kill you in the moment. Ammonium sulfate will send you to the hospital if you inhale it and may kill you.

2

u/Jim_Cruz May 18 '25

Bruh... the most common chemical in extinguishers is sodium bicarbonate. At most, it'll be an irritant even if ingested.

You are right. You won't die from the things I mentioned... right away. They are cancerous and very much still harmful.

That being said... sodium bicarb irritation is your concern?

1

u/Seanpat68 May 18 '25

Bruh listen to toxicologists not your gut feeling sodium bicarbonate can and does kill https://www.poison.org/articles/fire-extinguisher-safety-184 just because we use it as baking soda doesn’t mean it’s harmless

1

u/Jim_Cruz May 19 '25

From your article...

"Deliberate inhalation or ingestion can cause serious symptoms such as pneumonia, seizures, irregular heartbeat, and kidney failure."

Definitely a concern but there's a reason why scbas are required for veh fires. The dangers are bad enough on ev fires that bunker gear needs extra washes to be deemed ok and is likely never going to be 100% clean.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21274476/

https://www.cancerhealth.com/article/electric-vehicle-fires-raise-cancer-risk-firefighters-communities

1

u/Seanpat68 May 19 '25

The reason the gear requires multiple washes is because it has to have pfas in it per NFPA so you are washing your gear to the point of degradation. Also PFAS should not be your immediate concern it’s everywhere even in drinking water. Worry about the hydrochloric acid runoff that the batteries create that will eat through your boots and chemically burn

1

u/Jim_Cruz May 19 '25

Here are more studies... I've already shared a study saying hazardous compounds are approx 9 times the acceptable risk levels (45% of which are definitely cancerous). These other studies state more of the same. Cobalt is even tested to be 24 times the safe limit.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36231742/

This one states how conventional extractors only clean about 85% of contaminants from gear. There are articles that recommend a field decon and even a second wash, but even then, heavier metals will still persist and cross contaminate.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28636458/

1

u/robertbuzbyjr May 18 '25

Depending on what the dry chem is! One is actually what they use as antacid. 😁

1

u/Seanpat68 May 18 '25

Yes, sodium bicarbonate, which when inhaled can cause pulmonary edema.