THE FIND

This weekend...Cindy & I drove to Vincennes to check on her mom and to attend the graduation party of great-nephew, Jordan. We also made a quick trip down to the homeland…Owensville…to visit niece Diane and husband Jerry. They are having their 100-year old barn torn down. In the process, they found a tool box that belonged to dad. Diane called me last week or so to tell me they had it and thought I’d want it…and they were right.

Dad was a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy…could do and build...just about anything. Contained in this tool box was dad’s tool-and-die equipment. A small, unexpected finding in the tool box, had us all in awe. We were reminded that Dad, while we lived in Owensville, served as the fire chief for the local fire department. “The Find” in the tool box...was something that dad must have had available from his days back on the deparment...'a fire grenade'. We had never seen, nor even heard, of a fire grenade so I did a little research.

Dad's fire grenade in his tool box

The Red Comet Company began in 1919 in Denver, Colorado. In 1933 the operations moved to Littleton, Colorado.

Red Comet made several kinds of fire extinguishers for homes and offices as well as automobiles. The extinguishers were produced in sizes ranging from 2.5 pounds to 100 pounds. The popular "Fireman's Kit" contained six to eight grenades which were thrown at the base of a fire, allowing fluid to splash over the flames.

Early ones used harmless salt-water. The salt water was important so that the grenade could be advertised as “Non-Freezing”. They came in various colors: Blues, Ambers, Greens and Clear glass. Their styles were ornate, which made them decorative as well as functional. Later, as they became mass produced, they were filled with Carbon tetrachloride (CTC). Carbon-tetrachloride extinguishers were withdrawn in the 1950s because of the chemical's toxicity. (exposure to high concentrations damages the nervous system and internal organs. Additionally, when used on a fire, the heat can convert CTC to phosgene gas, formerly used as a chemical weapon.)

Now…we’ll need to find a way to display it…and keep it safe from exposure should it accidentally be broken (in case it’s one with CTC rather than salt water)…but it is a wonderful find.

It is wonderful too…to have dad’s tool box that he made…and the tools that he worked with. It was good to put ‘hands’ on things…that many years ago…dad had ‘his’ hands on too.

Quite a find.

Dan