"Fire Grenade" find today

Working in an old house (now owned by the state and used as a place to hold meetings, events, and such) and found this gem down in the basement above the heater. They are called a “fire grenade” and were popular back in the day as a sort of automatic fire extinguisher. I’ve come across a handful of them over the years but it’s been a while since I’ve seen one. I was surprised this one was still there. I’ll find them in attics or above old heating equipment, but this one was in a recently renovated building.

Here’s a good article explaining them and how they work - and the dangers of them
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/how-to-advice/common-fire-safety-device-in-old-homes-a-health-hazard.shtml

Wow, that’s a new one on me. Awesome find.

I first saw the title and what kinda first went through my mind was a grenade that made fire. Then I realized this was in the Fire Extinguishers and Suppression and then changed my mind. Im guessing this thing was state of the art back then? I think you should find a away to drain it.

I have some older things like that with the liquid still in them, but I’m always on the fence about getting more. I always fear where I would keep them without breaking them by accident. The contents, usually carbon tetrachloride, is nasty stuff.

That is a really cool find. A used to know of a couple of large older houses in my community that used something similar to that, mounted above heating equipment. They were removed in 2010 due to “health concerns” and the whole house was retrofitted with fire sprinklers.