I am not a fireman but I have been a health and safety, and fire safety officer in the work place for many years and have done a number of fire safety courses with the Fire Brigade.
Just by way of background, I am a professional firefighter, as well as a safety officer, which does NOT make me any sort of expert. But you raise several points, not all of which I entirely agree with or think are supported by the available data.
I am a little worried by people talking about fire extinguishers because the fact is if you own them you are likely to use them instead of getting out of the building. Many people with extinguishers tackle fires that are just too big for the extinguisher to handle and the evidence shows that many more people that stay to fight the fire die than those that just attempt to evacuate.
Evacuation is typically the "default" safe option, at least for the evacuee. I'd be interested to see the evidence you are referring to, above, regarding people dying from taking on fires too big for their extinguishers, though. I couldn't find any such evidence in a cursory search.
Fires do kill, and unsuppressed fires kill more readily. On the other hand, fires are much easier to knock down early, and knocked down fires are much less deadly, especially to others who haven't yet or can't evacuate. Think about the potential consequences of a fire in your apartment or condo. Alarm, containment nad suppression is sometimes a better strategy than immediate evacuation. The life you save may NOT be your own.
The point is, it's often worthwhile to try knocking down a fire in it's incipient stage, before it becomes a killer. A portable extinguisher discharges in several seconds to less than a minute, typically. But it can extinguish surprisingly large fires. So it may be well worth taking the time to hit it with the extinguisher first, then evacuate.
Also, sometimes evacuation is just not an option. Consider a fire in a nursing home or aboard a ferry boat, for example. In these circumstances, you will have to rely on the ability of your extinguishers to knock down the fire, because evacuation may not be an option.
A fire in the home in most cases is totally unmanageable within 60 seconds.
Sometimes, sometimes not. Fire is somewhat idiosyncratic.
It is not the fire that kills but the smoke and fumes. If you stick around to fight the fire you are breathing in that stuff which is slowly rendering you useless.
Or maybe not so slowly. In addition to the lack of oxygen, many products of combustion are toxic, containing things like forms of cyanide.
If you use an extinguisher you are actually increasing the amount of dangerous un-burnt fumes given off by the fire.
Doubtful.
A fire extinguisher is great to have for knocking down small fires that have just started but once they are bigger than a waste paper bin fire then it is time to get out.
I'm unaware of any such hard and fast rule. I take your point about getting out safely while you still can, instead of foolishly trying to fight an obviously out of control fire with a puny extinguisher. It is an entirely valid and important point.
But I think it is important, in this survival forum with it's focus on preparedness, not to unintentionally undermine either people's confidence in the effectiveness of portable extinguishers, nor their confidence in their ability to deal with outbreaks of fire before they grow into killers.
So:
Have portable extinguishers. Have enough extinguishers. Have the right types(s) of extinguishers. Know how to use your extinguishers. Have smoke, fire, and CO detectors. Have and practice your fire/evacuation plan.
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