[dannyb]

House: Kitchen, upstairs, basement, garage. One in each car.

I see a lot of chat about not trying to save the car in case it catches fire, but I give you this story as support for car carry:

When I first met the woman who would become my wife, I was invited down for a gathering of her family. We all went in my FIL's car. Aside from the smell of a million Lucky Strikes, there was the stench of long-ago burned plastic. I asked about it and got the story.

My late FIL, a dyed-in-the-wool New Englander used to commute to and from Hyannis on Cape Cod where he had a small furniture store. He also didn't believe in using the air conditioner so he drove with all the windows down. He was also a heavy smoker (3 packs a day of Luckies).

One late Friday night (1970s) he was driving home from the Hyannis store when he flicked his cigarette out the window. It went about 2 feet in the air and zoomed back into the car, landing on the back seat. The back seat began to smolder. So he began a quest for a hose to put out the smoldering back seat (note the absence of a fire extinguisher). Smoke is pouring from his car, the few gas stations that were open wouldn't even let him stop (figuring he would explode and take the station with him), and it had gotten so late that stopping at a house was not an option. So he drove for about 45 minutes until he finally found a fire house that would unlimber a hose and put out the smolder. He replaced the back seat, and from that day forward carried a closed Clorox jug filled with water in the trunk (too cheap to buy a fire extinguisher).

I decided then and there that a small fire extinguisher is probably not a bad idea. Never had to use one, always glad I have it. Besides, when traveling in the commie-pinko-seminationalsocialist northern states, it can also serve as an alternate weapon at need.