anrique fire extinguishers

[Danny Beebe]

We were given a strange object a few years back and was told that it was an old time fire extinguisher. It is a tear shaped glass ball about the size of a small melon with a dark liquid inside. We were told that it was to be thrown at the base of the fire and it would burst thus putting the fire out.

Does anyone out there know any more about this item and can you give me a short history of them. We are preparing a display for our local library and need as much info. as possible.

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[BURNSEMS]

WARNING what you have is very Dangerous,,, it is called Carbon Tetrachloride and is very Dangerous to the human Body,, it was used in the early 1800 & 1900 as a precursure to modern day Fire Extingushers, it could be Thrown or set up in a Mantel Piece, when it got Hot a Lead piece fell or was spring Loaded to rupture the Container,, according to NIOSH (National Institute for Safety and Health) it can cause or has caused Cancer and Liver Failure it is Skin Absorbed and has a STEL (short term exposure limit of 2ppm (parts per million), I would not advise putting this object ANYWHERE it could be droped or broken, they are a piece of History for the fire Service but I am sure our Firefighting forefathers had NO idea what it was or what it could do to their health,, if you want or need more info on Carbon Tet please E mail me

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Here today for a Safer Tomorrow

[LadderCo13]

As the previous post said what you have is very dangerous, and if displayed, make sure it is in a very secure place.

BE SAFE!!!