New Building --> New Fire Extinguisher

[Toddao]

I use the regular water can and mix in some AFFF foam it comes out just as good as a foam extinguisher. Have 3 or 4 of those and a few dry chemical. Still have a good 2.5 halon ext keep that on the boat in summer and in the kitchen

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Just remember, most small dry chemical extinguishers are NOT rated for putting out solid combustibles (wood, paper, cardboard, plastic). If they are, the rating is very small. Most of them are rated for putting out liquid (grease) or electrical fires. BC rated extinguishers are only rated for liquid and electrical fires.

If you do have an A rated extinguisher, it's A rating will be much smaller than the BC rating. Something like 1A:8BC means it's solid fuel rating is only 1/8th the B rating.

A rating: solid fuel (wood, plastic, paper)
B rating: liquid fuel
C rating: electrical fire

MUCH more effective against solid fuel fires is a connected garden hose.

Ken

I use the regular water can and mix in some AFFF foam it comes out just as good as a foam extinguisher.

The water "cans" work good for Class A fires...Even more so if you add some foam...and you can recharge them yourself...:thumbsup:

 

[toy]

Something that needs to be mentioned came to my mind when I saw the young man in BIRDHUNTER1 post, it reminded me of something that happened to our family when our son was about that age. His hair was so white that when it got wet it looked like he didn't have hair. Anyway we heated our house with coal for a long time, but when the furnace was new and was being fired for the first time it smoked up the house. We went to get our son out of the house first so he wouldn't breath the smoke and fumes, we wanted to make sure he was safe. When we got to his room instead of him trying to get out or hollering for us, he had climbed up into his bed and covered up his head. From that time we put a lot of emphasis on teaching our son and ourselves what to do in case of a fire, get out of the house and go to a preselected meeting place. We taught him escape routs, I think that is an important thing to remember to do along with having fire extinguishers handy. I have several fire extinguishers located through out the house and garages, but I need to check out to see if they are still operational. To keep someone from thinking that it was the coal that smoked up the house , it was the paint on the heat chamber that smoked it up something that is apt to happen with any new heating appliance.

 

[Toyboy]

When it comes the fire extinguishers I have a bunch. 7 in the shop/detached garage. 3 CO2 and 4 dry chemical. In the house I have 2 Co2, 2 Halon and 2 dry chemical. All of them are placed to be readily accessible if needed. Each of the 3 vehicles have one and also the boat which is mandatory because it is 18ft Every 6 month's I do a check on them. Weigh the co2's and tap the bottom of the dry chemical extinguishers w/rubber mallet to make sure the powder is loose. That is something most people don't think about.

 

[JB4310]

The water "cans" work good for Class A fires...Even more so if you add some foam...and you can recharge them yourself...:thumbsup:

They also make great squirt guns for a water fight

When it comes the fire extinguishers I have a bunch. 7 in the shop/detached garage. 3 CO2 and 4 dry chemical. In the house I have 2 Co2, 2 Halon and 2 dry chemical. All of them are placed to be readily accessible if needed. Each of the 3 vehicles have one and also the boat which is mandatory because it is 18ft Every 6 month's I do a check on them.Weigh the co2's and tap the bottom of the dry chemical extinguishers w/rubber mallet to make sure the powder is loose. That is something most people don't think about.

Also turn them upside down, you should feel all that stuff moving back and forth.

JB.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

They also make great squirt guns for a water fight

Yep... :thumbsup:

 

[jdonovan]

If you do have an A rated extinguisher, it's A rating will be much smaller than the BC rating. Something like 1A:8BC means it's solid fuel rating is only 1/8th the B rating.

the A and B ratings are not directly comparable.

A rating is the equivalent extinguishing ability of 2.5 gallons of water.

B rating is the ability of the extinguisher to put out that many square feet of flammable liquid. BY A TRAINED USER.

An untrained user will often get only 25%-50% of the effectiveness as a trained user. A well trained/practiced user can often get 200% effectiveness, or more.

When we taught extinguisher class to new firefighters it was always surprising to them how hard it was to put out fires at first, but, by the end of class we would have a few that could put out the diesel pit with less than 1/2 of the 2.5 gal water can.

Next time you have a camp fire try putting it out with an extinguisher. Its good to know how this stuff works before you need it in a life/property saving capacity.

At home we generally keep a 2A:10BC near likely fire points. 3A:40BC near higher hazard areas. Welding, vehicle storage, fuel cans etc. We also keep several 3A:40BC near each exit of the house. If you can't get it out with the small one... its time to run. If you need to fight your way back in for life saving then you've got some big ones that should be accessible.

Living in a rural area means even once you call for help, you're on your own for 15+ minutes.

 

[atgreene]

Lots of good info here, I'll add one more tid bit. When buying an extinguisher buy one with a metal handle. Plastic handled extinguishers are not refillable whereas the metal ones can be reused over and over again as well as hydro tested to allow years and years of service.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Lots of good info here, I'll add one more tid bit. When buying an extinguisher buy one with a metal handle. Plastic handled extinguishers are not refillable whereas the metal ones can be reused over and over again as well as hydro tested to allow years and years of service.

+1

The metal handle ones usually aren't sold at the "big box" stores...


I've looked around, and Darley seems to have a good price...

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