What is the best /safest car/SUV to drive in the mountains and snow?
Doubt it is from WWII. The extinguisher in your question was patented on Nov. 21, 1950 by Ignatius Nurkiewicz of Brooklyn New York. Take a look at the second link. Is this the extinguisher you possess? Note the extinguisher was produced for the Air Force. The US Air Force did not become a separate branch of the military until 18 September 1947. WWII concluded in 1945. STOP FIRE INC was the manufacturer.
It's rust from the OLD pipes that were used when the system was first installed. This is why they recommend people drink bottled water. If you knew what was growing on the insides of these pipes it would make your skin crawl..Some cities flush chlorine through at such high levels to kill the build up that you can actually smell a glass of water across the roomunknown to you this dusty brownish stuff you speak of usually ends up in that glass you brush your teeth with every morning. What you saw was a water line that has sat unused for a long time so this crap was allowed to build up and settle near the hydrants outlet..care for a glass of ice cold rotted pipe runoff ?
LPG gas sinks in the air. Natural Gas goes up or at least wafts around. Most likely LPG gas. Don't light a cigarette or heater until you get it checked. 911 call (or 000 here in Oz) might cost you money (A fire brigade call out costs money here if it's a false alarm) so sus it out as much as you can. Check upstairs occupants first. Find out if there's a gas boiler above you etc. It might just be a bit of blow off when someone worked on or changed the cylinder - that happens. But do sus it out.
