Ducktapeguy, popping the hood to address the fire seems to have made the problem worse, right? Firefighters, please chime in on this point: opening the hood feeds the fire with oxygen (instead of keeping the oxygen somewhat deprived by a closed hood holding in smoke and choking out the oxygen) and can lead to a rapid - and potentially explosive - increase in the flames. Its the same concept as not opening doors in a house if there is a fire on the other side. I have seen a few home and apartment fire scenes, and the difference between a fire free flowing between rooms and one that was confined behind a doorway is night and day - the free flowing fire has burned down the surrounding doors to waist height, while the confined fire may produce smoke damage to the same height, but not nearly so much flame damage. In a house this can mean tens of thousands dollars less in damage to home and contents, not to mention a better survival rate for occupants (assuming they GET OUT and keep low).

So I'm a big believer in leaving the fire as is, not popping the hood, get people away from the fire, and waiting for emergency help to arrive. Know your limitations - a 5 lb extinguisher is very limited to address any kind of car fire, and while I will always use it to remove a trapped occupant, I won't rely on it to address an active fire. I may spray it on the fire, but I won't pop the bonnet, as that just feeds the flames. I look upon car fires as a dead loss anyway - that's why folks have insurance.

Eye protection and leather gloves are also required, for any emergency extraction. And something to break a windshield. Keep these in an accessible place in your car (side pocket etc).

Go for a side window if possible. The windshield is much harder to break. Make sure that you have a tool that can cut a seatbelt, too.