#176994 - 07/20/09 04:39 PM
Re: No fire extinguisher in your home? Buy one.
[Re: thseng]
|
Old Hand
Registered: 09/12/01
Posts: 960
Loc: Saskatchewan, Canada
|
I just wanted to show you a link to a relevant article in my local newspaper - kitchen fires are becoming more common here. It gives a number of examples of less than intelligent first responses to a fire which just goes to show that having a plan and practising it so that you respond instinctively and correctly can save you from a bigger problem. Cooking Fires Becoming an Alarming TrendI know it's easy to forget about something on the stove, I have in the past had some burned or spoiled food because I was not attentive to what I was cooking. It isn't a big leap from burned food to an actual kitchen fire.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#177005 - 07/20/09 05:27 PM
Re: No fire extinguisher in your home? Buy one.
[Re: Roarmeister]
|
Veteran
Registered: 08/19/03
Posts: 1371
Loc: Queens, New York City
|
...snip...It is more important to have them close and handy to quickly attack the fire rather than running out to the garage for the big 20 lber and waste 30 seconds. I'd rather have a number of 2-5 lb extinguishers scattered throughout the house. Close at hand is good - one (small - 2lb) attached to the wall in the Kitchen, one 10lb in the upstairs linen closet, one 10lb in the detached garage, one 5 lb in the basement, and another 10lb in the basement that gets moved to the den in the fall/winter when we MIGHT light the fireplace (have not in 2 years, but) Why the 10 lbs jobs? I have a friend who gets full charged, good units that are near the end of their hydro test time for free. He's in the business - around here, for commercial use, they have to be swapped out or re-hydro tested - cheaper to swap. I get handed units with a year or so on their hydro, but are still pefectly good and inspected except for that I also have 2 lb units in both the car and the truck I'm trying to find a free Purple K unit for the shop, but....
Edited by KG2V_was_kc2ixe (07/20/09 05:27 PM) Edit Reason: fix quote bracket
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#177049 - 07/21/09 02:56 AM
Re: No fire extinguisher in your home? Buy one.
[Re: Roarmeister]
|
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 09/01/07
Posts: 2432
|
It is old school, log cabin, and very 1930s but a simple bucket full of sand works on most fires and work very well on grease fires.
A five pound ABC dry chemical fire extinguisher may run you $12 to $18. Larger units and less popular types, like pressurized water, foam or CO2 are much more expensive.
A nice two and a half gallon galvanized steel bucket goes for about $10 and builder's or beach sand can be had for free. Of course you don't have to buy a new bucket. Any appropriately sized bucket with solid construction will work. Your typical five gallon units are too big. They would be too heavy when full and too large to swing easily. I have seen them cut down to half size and they seemed to work well enough.
If you can manufacture a lid that can be removed immediately you can simply use a two to three gallon plastic bucket and fill it with water with a cap full of bleach to keep the water from getting funky. You wouldn't want this setup in the kitchen or garage where class-B fires are your major hazards but in the basement or bedroom where class-A fires are most common it would work well. Possibly better than a five pound dry chemical unit. Given the cost there is no reason not to prepare two or three buckets ahead of time.
Another option is to have a thick wood blanket on hand. Better still if it is treated with a borax solution as a fire retardant but even untreated wool is naturally fire resistant enough that it will still work to smother a fire and buy you time. covering a fire with a wool blanket and following with a bucket of sand or water, depending on the type of fire, is a time tested strategy. A wool blanket is still considered the best way to extinguish a person on fire.
My point here is that while commercially available extinguishers have become the reflexive answer for fire protection there are other, older options. Options that are both cheaper and potentially more effective than most off-the-shelf extinguishers. People have been fighting fire for a very long time and many of those older techniques still work. Sometimes they have real advantages in cost and your ability to create, maintain, and refill your own fire fighting equipment.
A lack of resources shouldn't keep people from having effective fire protection on hand.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#177056 - 07/21/09 04:28 AM
Re: No fire extinguisher in your home? Buy one.
[Re: ki4buc]
|
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 12/18/08
Posts: 1534
Loc: Muskoka
|
Contact your local Fire Prevention office of your local Fire Department for training opportunities.
That is likely the best advice of all. If you look at industrial sites you will notice most fire extinguishers are located at the exits. The idea is to get people out of the building instead of letting them be trapped inside by the fire. Most people do not have the training or skills to fight a fire effectively. Usually they panic and do exactly the wrong things. The first step in being prepared is to get the required knowledge. (and firefighting really should include fire prevention as a first step) Edit: Roarmeister, how often do you change the batteries in your alarm? (LOL)
Edited by scafool (07/21/09 04:31 AM)
_________________________
May set off to explore without any sense of direction or how to return.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#177061 - 07/21/09 05:14 AM
Re: No fire extinguisher in your home? Buy one.
[Re: scafool]
|
Newbie
Registered: 01/16/09
Posts: 32
Loc: Kali4nya
|
Whatever happened to the old adage's,"Keep the lid Handy"? To smother the flames on that Frying pan/Wok!& The ABC Extinguishers-"ABC's Extinguish All Three!" Again,What's more messy,A successful fire,or an Unsuccessful fire? As Always,YMMV
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#177088 - 07/21/09 03:19 PM
Re: No fire extinguisher in your home? Buy one.
[Re: KG2V]
|
Enthusiast
Registered: 06/18/06
Posts: 358
|
KG2V: When I replaced my gas/hot water furnace a few years ago, for $150 extra, I had the plumber install a sprinkler head over the furnace. Cheap insurance in my estimation.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#177103 - 07/21/09 03:56 PM
Re: No fire extinguisher in your home? Buy one.
[Re: acropolis5]
|
Product Tester
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 11/14/04
Posts: 1928
Loc: Mountains of CA
|
KG2V: When I replaced my gas/hot water furnace a few years ago, for $150 extra, I had the plumber install a sprinkler head over the furnace. Cheap insurance in my estimation. I've seen people do this above their 250 gallon propane tank... really what's sprinkler water gonna do when your propane tank is blowing a 50ft flame out the release valve? Never really understood that.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
|
0 registered (),
855
Guests and
25
Spiders online. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|