Narrative:

We did our normal preflight checks in preparation for the flight. After doing his walk-around the first officer took his seat on the flight deck. He completed his normal preflight routines as I was finishing up mine. Shortly thereafter; he looked over to me and asked if I smelled something like sulfur burning. At first I did not; but about two seconds later I picked up the same smell and told him about it. We looked around to see if we could detect where the smell was coming from. A couple of seconds later we noticed smoke emanating from the first officer side console below the window frame. From my angle I was then able to see a small flame that was the cause of the smoke. I asked the first officer to evacuate the flight deck area so I could put out the small fire causing the smoke. I grabbed the fire extinguisher in the flight deck and discharged the halon onto the small fire. This action put out the fire and the resulting smoke. I immediately called maintenance; but could not get a hold of them. I then called our dispatcher and relayed the appropriate information. She then put me in contact with maintenance control and they dispatched mechanics to the airplane. Upon their inspection they noticed that one of the flood lights on the first officer side panel had shorted out and caused the outer protective guard to catch on fire. This was the cause of the smoke and the flame that I saw in that area. I contacted the dispatch supervisor and provided him with all of the pertinent information. I also informed the gate of our situation and made the notification to the director of safety concerning the incident. The mechanics were able to positively identify the source of the fire so they were able to properly address the situation. They performed their necessary procedures; deferred the flood lights; and the airplane was determined to be airworthy. I contacted our dispatcher; added the MEL to the release; and we proceeded without incident. I do not have any specific suggestions for preventing this from happening again. However; I would like to bring up two points that were brought to my attention because of this incident. First; we are taught over and over in training the acronym pass in extinguishing fires meaning pull the pin; aim; squeeze; and sweep. On this particular model of fire extinguisher there was no pin to pull. Knowing the acronym I looked for a pin to pull but had to figure out how to use this particular extinguisher on my own. It would be nice to be trained on the particular models that we have on board the airplane. Secondly; when I looked at the instructions for the fire extinguisher; they were primarily in a foreign language. The english translation was actually below the foreign instructions and not clearly identifiable. Should this fire have been more significant; valuable time may have been wasted trying to properly use the extinguisher because it was different than what we were trained on and the main instructions were in a foreign language.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CL600 CREW RPTS COCKPIT FLOOD LIGHT SHORT THAT CAUSES SMALL FIRE DURING PREFLT.

Narrative: WE DID OUR NORMAL PREFLIGHT CHECKS IN PREPARATION FOR THE FLT. AFTER DOING HIS WALK-AROUND THE FO TOOK HIS SEAT ON THE FLT DECK. HE COMPLETED HIS NORMAL PREFLIGHT ROUTINES AS I WAS FINISHING UP MINE. SHORTLY THEREAFTER; HE LOOKED OVER TO ME AND ASKED IF I SMELLED SOMETHING LIKE SULFUR BURNING. AT FIRST I DID NOT; BUT ABOUT TWO SECONDS LATER I PICKED UP THE SAME SMELL AND TOLD HIM ABOUT IT. WE LOOKED AROUND TO SEE IF WE COULD DETECT WHERE THE SMELL WAS COMING FROM. A COUPLE OF SECONDS LATER WE NOTICED SMOKE EMANATING FROM THE FO SIDE CONSOLE BELOW THE WINDOW FRAME. FROM MY ANGLE I WAS THEN ABLE TO SEE A SMALL FLAME THAT WAS THE CAUSE OF THE SMOKE. I ASKED THE FO TO EVACUATE THE FLT DECK AREA SO I COULD PUT OUT THE SMALL FIRE CAUSING THE SMOKE. I GRABBED THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER IN THE FLT DECK AND DISCHARGED THE HALON ONTO THE SMALL FIRE. THIS ACTION PUT OUT THE FIRE AND THE RESULTING SMOKE. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED MAINT; BUT COULD NOT GET A HOLD OF THEM. I THEN CALLED OUR DISPATCHER AND RELAYED THE APPROPRIATE INFORMATION. SHE THEN PUT ME IN CONTACT WITH MAINTENANCE CONTROL AND THEY DISPATCHED MECHANICS TO THE AIRPLANE. UPON THEIR INSPECTION THEY NOTICED THAT ONE OF THE FLOOD LIGHTS ON THE FO SIDE PANEL HAD SHORTED OUT AND CAUSED THE OUTER PROTECTIVE GUARD TO CATCH ON FIRE. THIS WAS THE CAUSE OF THE SMOKE AND THE FLAME THAT I SAW IN THAT AREA. I CONTACTED THE DISPATCH SUPERVISOR AND PROVIDED HIM WITH ALL OF THE PERTINENT INFORMATION. I ALSO INFORMED THE GATE OF OUR SITUATION AND MADE THE NOTIFICATION TO THE DIRECTOR OF SAFETY CONCERNING THE INCIDENT. THE MECHANICS WERE ABLE TO POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE SOURCE OF THE FIRE SO THEY WERE ABLE TO PROPERLY ADDRESS THE SITUATION. THEY PERFORMED THEIR NECESSARY PROCS; DEFERRED THE FLOOD LIGHTS; AND THE AIRPLANE WAS DETERMINED TO BE AIRWORTHY. I CONTACTED OUR DISPATCHER; ADDED THE MEL TO THE RELEASE; AND WE PROCEEDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. I DO NOT HAVE ANY SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR PREVENTING THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN. HOWEVER; I WOULD LIKE TO BRING UP TWO POINTS THAT WERE BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION BECAUSE OF THIS INCIDENT. FIRST; WE ARE TAUGHT OVER AND OVER IN TRAINING THE ACRONYM PASS IN EXTINGUISHING FIRES MEANING PULL THE PIN; AIM; SQUEEZE; AND SWEEP. ON THIS PARTICULAR MODEL OF FIRE EXTINGUISHER THERE WAS NO PIN TO PULL. KNOWING THE ACRONYM I LOOKED FOR A PIN TO PULL BUT HAD TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE THIS PARTICULAR EXTINGUISHER ON MY OWN. IT WOULD BE NICE TO BE TRAINED ON THE PARTICULAR MODELS THAT WE HAVE ON BOARD THE AIRPLANE. SECONDLY; WHEN I LOOKED AT THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER; THEY WERE PRIMARILY IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION WAS ACTUALLY BELOW THE FOREIGN INSTRUCTIONS AND NOT CLEARLY IDENTIFIABLE. SHOULD THIS FIRE HAVE BEEN MORE SIGNIFICANT; VALUABLE TIME MAY HAVE BEEN WASTED TRYING TO PROPERLY USE THE EXTINGUISHER BECAUSE IT WAS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE WERE TRAINED ON AND THE MAIN INSTRUCTIONS WERE IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.