[David Otterstrom]

What recommendations do others have about the safest way to display and store an old Red Ball fire extinguisher(fire grenades)? From my research, it contains carbon tetrachloride. The spring is still in place that would break the glass if it were exposed to heat.

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[Gillian Marcus]

Hi David,

What a good question! The Museums Association of Saskatchewan has dealt with this previously, and has a helpful blog post on options for display and storage:

http://saskmuseums.org/blog/entry/glass-grenade-style-fire-extinguisher-bombs-are-they-safe

Another, very helpful blog post can be found here: http://wetaskiwinmuseum.com/extinguising-danger-putting-out-the-potential-hazards-of-carbon-tetrachloride/

It seems that possibly the safest way to go is to have a conservator drain the liquid under a fume hood and dispose of it safely. However, if you do not want to do this you can create custom mounts which can provide an extra measure against breakage.

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