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Just giving my wise wisdom and expertise of 30yrs in fire service, but clearly that counts for nothing and those who have never ever had to tackle a fire within a confined environment know better. People have some wonderful ideas of squirting an inappropriate extinguisher at a fire and all will be well. I’ll bow out to their superior knowledge and wisdom.
This interests me.
Our old buy to let flat had an HMO licence. As such I had to provide a fire blanket in kitchen and had two powder fire extinguishers, insisted upon by Fire Officers who visited. In addition I had to have the mains wired, interlinked smoke alarms, intumescent strips to all doors, door closers, emergency lighting AND all of that had to be checked and recorded, including a full building 'training' on a) leaving the building and b) where and how to use the fire blanket and fire extinguishers.
It always struck me that if there was a real fire, particularly in the 10'x6' kitchen with one door out, the last think I would want to do was stop around longer than needed, or even worse return and try to fling the contents of a fire extinguisher over it. Do bear in mind that all four flats had ONE exit door each and ONE front door overall on the building. This though was what the law for landlords expected and was geared towards a tenant doing. 🤷♀️
At the same time our old outdoor residential centre used to train with another area Fire Brigade, with a main centre with 70 beds and multiple staff houses of upto 6 people, we used to plan and train for leave the building.
If any staff wanted training on fire extinguisher use we would point them out so they didn't bash a leg against them as the left the building. ONLY the kitchen staff and senior team were shown a fire blanket for a kitchen stove top fire. ONLY the permanent staff were shown a very simple sweep of all rooms for persons as EVERYONE left the building.
Any questions? Yes, the answer was leave the building.
Want to challenge that? Yes, just leave the building.
(etc).
This was so at odds with the residential policy for our buy to let.
@tj - it might, for that one niche scenario (what's behind the door/letter box - could you mitigate that risk by removing flammables so the paper just burns out or fit a basket (although even in Leith its not a scenario I'd be stressing about unless you make a habit of upsetting local crime gangs)? My worry would be any fire big enough to need an extinguisher (rather than stamped out with your feet) will be making a lot of smoke which goes straight up the stair so either you can't make it as far as the fire OR you do but can't put it out and have no way to retreat.
dry powder extinguisher did the job of putting it out but in the process wrecked every other computer in the room with the powder particles
Similar story, I once went to a frozen food warehouse that had a sprinkler system which malfunctioned over the weekend. When I got there they were using a JCB to scoop up foot thick slabs of ice from the floor, goodness how much damage was caused.........
I have a couple in the workshop/sheds and a fire blanket in the house.
I have always thought that if I see a fire start in the house I can easy deal with it either with the fire blanket or water depending on the cause of the fire, if the alarms have gone off and I don't know what/where it started then it's already time to get out and call the FS
Like with first aid kits when MTBing – its a very small subset of situations where it might help. But I am listening and learning
In general using a first aid kit doesn't expose you to, or prolong your exposure to the danger. That's the first step in first aid, to make sure you don't become a problem as well.
Call them up, today, and ask them to come and give some advice.
My thought was something like burning paper thru the letter box.
You can be an argumentative sod, but we don't know where you live so who's going to do that?
I raised this with NFU when they insisted on extinguishers on all floors, similar to somebody above.
No way would I ever hang about to use them. But they had to be purchased just to meet their requirements.
My thought was something like burning paper thru the letter box.
If that is a real concern fit one of these https://www.fireprotectionshop.co.uk/p/white-mailguard-fire-protection-bag.html
I have one but not sure where I put it.
The training video I watched said to smash the regulator off the extinguisher then throw it into the inferno before running across a burning collapsing roof.
Is that wrong?
How many of you are expecting to have running fuel fires in your home
So, is there anywhere where Powder Extinguishers should be used? There are two specific risks for which, at present, Powder Extinguishers offer the only option:
1) Running fuel fires – i.e. if you use flammable liquids and there is a possibility of spillage.
2) Gas risks – if you use flammable gases, such as LPG. (You need adequate training to tackle fires involving gas risks.)
From the link you provided, "running fuel" in this context would be spilt oils that are on fire. Could apply equally in the garage or kitchen tbh. I agree gas is another beast altogether.
I’ve used both a CO2 and a Powder in anger and cannot imagine a situation in my own home where I would discover (or be alerted to) a fire, go and get the extinguisher (it will never be in the ideal place for that fire), and fight the fire rather than alerting everyone else in the house, calling the fire brigade and getting out. Using an extinguisher first seems the wrong sequence of events.
If my kitchen is on fire the interlinked detector will already have alerted everyone. If I'm in the kitchen, where my extinguisher is, then I'll be grabbing it before making sure everyone else is out, then I'll fight the fire. If everyone is already out then I'll go straight for the fire. Powder everywhere, boo hoo. Still rather clear that shit up than lose my house (but not my life trying).
As for where in my own home I could imagine then as said oil fires in the kitchen, hot pans causing something the catch fire (shit happens, people drop things for a variety of reasons) or just electrical fires. Yes an RCD will cut the power but insulation can still smoulder and burn after the event, I had the joy of a 415V motor blowing up next to me at work with flames belting out, fire brigade (site and proper) attended but we had already extinguished and cooled it with a CO2 extinguisher. Already had a washing machine and tumble dryer throw their motors at home so I know fine it can still happen at home.
And yes, I've had training, in confined spaces (shipboard fire fighting), and know how each type works.
sounds like you have a more advanced skillset that equips you in a way that the average punter with an Amazon bought extinguisher isn't.
The training video I watched said to smash the regulator off the extinguisher then throw it into the inferno before running across a burning collapsing roof.
Is that wrong?
Haha. Obviously a joke but I have seen a 5kg CO2 do the Hollywood missile thing. It went up a tree, across the car park and stoved the side of a van in.
I mentioned earlier in the thread some basic checks you can do on old extinguishers.
Just remember pressure vessels can be very dangerous and are sometimes best discharged safely, replaced and turned into tubeless inflators.
sounds like you have a more advanced skillset that equips you in a way that the average punter with an Amazon bought extinguisher isn’t.
The thing is it's not really all that advanced. As long as you get your priorities right then why shouldn't anyone have one? As for proper use, domestic sales at least should come with proper instructions (haha).
at the risk or redoing a dozen previous posts, because they aren't easy for the untrained user to use, effectively, in a confined space. Providing a set of instructions (what, to read once then you get it and the hope you remembered them 5 years later when you need them? or do you re read them while the fire waits?) doesn't get close to enabling the layman to safely tackle a fire and may (even, is likely) to put them at greater risk.
When firefighters on here are saying they don't have them and would just shut the door and get out, same as the FS folk that did our home safety inspection - that's sufficient advice for me