• The engine compartment, from fuel or oil leaks.
• Under the dash, from electrical shorts.
• The back seat, from lighted cigarettes.

Left - medium size ABC dry chemical. Center left - glovebox-size PK dry chemical. Center right - large ABC dry chemical. Right - Halon extinguisher.

The downside is the fine powdery residue an ABC extinguisher leaves. It will corrode electrical connections and will ruin computers and other electronic gear. You have to clean up thoroughly after using an ABC extinguisher.

To put out a fire, sweep the discharge from the extinguisher steadily back and forth across the base of the flames until the fire is out. Don't spray the extinguisher toward the flames that are leaping into the air - that won't do any good and just wastes the precious contents of the extinguisher.

If you have an upholstery fire in the back seat, smother the fire with the extinguisher, but then pull the back seat out of the vehicle. The fire will probably still be smoldering deep inside the seat. Open up the upholstery to extinguish the fire thoroughly.

Because of environmental considerations, the manufacture of Halon has been banned by the EPA, but previous supplies are still available and Halon extinguishers are still available from the General Fire Extinguisher Company of Northbrook, Illinois. Call 1-800-323-6452 to find a distributer near you.

The alternative to Halon is the old CO2 extinguisher. A new agent, Halatron, is scheduled for release in a few months. Whether it works as well as Halon remains to be seen.

Engine compartment fires usually occur when a fuel line cracks and leaks onto a hot engine. Inspect fuel lines frequently and replace them if they're cracking. This is especially important now since the gasoline additive MTBE has been associated with fuel line erosion and engine fires.

If you've got an engine fire, immediately turn off the ignition to shut down the fuel pump and the flow of fuel. Putting out an engine fire safely and efficiently takes two people. One holds the fire extinguisher and the other opens the hood. The fire will flare up as the fresh air hits it. Immediately spray the fire extinguisher across the base of the flames until the fire is out.

It's important to get the hood open fast. If the fire burns through the hood release cable before you can get it open, there'll be no way to get at the fire. Don't try to put out an engine fire by spraying the extinguisher through the radiator or through the wheel wells - that won't work and just wastes time and your fire extinguisher. You've got to get at the base of the flames.

A lot of SUVs and pickups catch fire each year when the driver parks the rig in tall grass and leaves to go hunting, fishing, or hiking.

The hot catalytic converter sets the grass on fire, and the rig is then parked in the middle of a raging grass or forest fire. It burns along with everything around it. So for the sake of your rig as well as the environment, don't park close to anything that the catalytic converter or muffler could ignite.

You can set your rig on fire, or even be killed or injured yourself, when you're filling the gas tank from a container on which static electricity has built up. A spark jumps from the container to the rig and explodes the gas fumes. Static electricity is likely to build up on a container that's carried in a pickup with a plastic bed liner, or one that's carried on the roof of a vehicle, where highway speeds cause the friction of the air against the container to build up a charge.

Be sure to ground the container before you open it to pour out the gasoline. And remember a nearly empty container can be even more dangerous than a full one, because the gas fumes inside the container are more explosive than liquid gasoline.

[4-Wheel Freedom: The Art of Off-Road Driving], by Dr. Brad DeLong.
Paladin Press. 8 ? X 11 inches. 154 pages, 89 Photos and Illustrations. Order tollfree from 1-800-4X4-ROAD (494-7623), or visit the 4-Wheel Freedom WebSite at: http://www.4x4road.com.