Lynita,
Your are right to be cautious: carbon tetrachloride is nasty stuff.
Contacting a fire safety company would be a good idea. You might also
contact your local fire department or county fire coordinator and ask for
the HAZMAT coordinator, as this does qualify as a HAZMAT substance. Although
not an emergency, a HAZMAT trained firefighter might help you drain the
globe and dispose of the substance inside, as you are preserving
firefighting history. I would be very careful with the item, as it is
dangerous and if it does break, it is a HAZMAT emergency, so contact your
fire dept immediately.
Regards,
Jamie Smith
Director
FASNY Museum of Firefighting
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Lynita Langley-Ware
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 12:14 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Questions about fire extinguishers
Greetings everyone! Here's a collections/conservation question we need
some guidance on.
We were recently given a fire extinguisher that we have determined to be
unstable. It is one of those that looks like a giant light bulb filled
with water, and it sits on a wall sconce until needed. In case of a
fire, you throw the thing into the fire, it shatters, and the clear
liquid (NOT water) extinguishes the flames. Come to find out its filled
with a really unstable liquid called carbon tetrachloride, which does
awful things to your respiratory system if inhaled. We called the fire
department next door, they sent over the bomb squad and they took it
away. Oh, and all that happened while we were having a holiday open
house! Well, we have another one that has been in collections for over
10 years, and it recently resurfaced. We'd like to have it deactivated
and retain the glass globe. My question is, has anyone encountered
something like this, and how was it handled? When we asked the bomb
squad about deactivating it, they told us they'd get back to us. That
was over four months ago, and they have destroyed the thing, so I don't
want to take this one to them. We'd like to display the artifact in our
history of the county fire department exhibit, but not if it is unstable.
Any direction would be greatly appreciated.
Respectfully,
Lynita Langley-Ware
--
Lynita Langley-Ware, M.A., R.P.A.
Director, Faulkner County Museum
PO Box 2442
Conway, Arkansas 72033
501-329-5918
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