Comments on: How to Use a Fire Extinguisher

By: Leia

Leia — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:13:04 +0000

I’m a trained Electrician’s Mate in the United States Navy and also was highly trained in the Navy’s version of firefighting. We classify the oil/grease fires in the deep fat fryers aboard ships under the Class Bravo (or B as you civvies call it) and we fight it with a chemical called Aqueous Potassium Carbonate (APC). As far as electrical fires, they send us Electricians (or “Sparkies”, as the other Engineering rates like to call us) to go kill the power to whatever source is feeding the fire before the firefighting party puts it out with either water or Carbon Dioxide (CO2) extinguishers. For Class D (or “Delta”) fires, which involve aircraft (I’m stationed on an aircraft carrier in San Diego), the flight deck firefighting party is taught to push the aircraft over the side. Interesting tidbits for you fellow AoM readers out there….

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 07:22:27 +0000

Good article. As others have stated, if you have a flaming liquid, or even a loose solid (hay was my most recent), the pressure from the stream could spread it.

Remember to call 911 before or while you’re putting the fire out. The fire department needs to check for extension to make sure it doesn’t flare up again.

Fires are destructive, firefighters may seem to be just as destructive. We try to be as low impact as possible, but tearing back sheet rock is kind of messy, but still cheaper than rebuilding a house.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:16:43 +0000

One other thing that I was taught about fire extinguishers is that you can shoot a cloud of powder between you and the fire to reflect some of the heat. This might allow you to better attack the base, or allow a safer retreat.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:33:50 +0000

Last week we got a few in for our office, and when I was placing them around the office, I barely noticed that there was a small plastic tie (the kind that lock) holding the pin in place. Obviously, you don’t want to be looking for scissors to cut off the plastic tie that you forgot to take off when you bought it. So you might want to take a second look at your extinguisher and make sure there’s no plastic surprise still attached.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:40:56 +0000

I was a firefighter (fulltime and parttime) for about ten years, and this is a great article for people. The biggest thing I would add is to resist the urge to “test” your fire extinguisher’s function by shooting a quick blast. Doing so will bust the seal, and the propellent will slowly leak out, leaving you with a useless paperweight when you actually NEED to use it. Turning it upside down to keep the powder from caking is good though, as has been pointed out.

By: JJ

JJ — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:30:32 +0000

This is a quick legal thing to add.

A few years ago, a dorm at the college I was attending, had a fire break out. The guys on the floor quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher that was on the floor, as well as another floor, and tried to put out the fire. The fire department arrived and did quell the flame.
Once the fire was out and the guys who used the extinguishers were being questioned, and they were informed that it was actually illegal to use more than one extinguisher on a fire.
The logic being, that if it takes you more than one extinguisher to put out a fire, it is really beyond your control to contain it and you need to just get out of there. I’m not sure if this is a city ordinance, or if it goes to the state level. Just be aware of any legal repercussions for trying to play fireman when you are not one.

By: J.J. Vicars

J.J. Vicars — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:35:06 +0000

Never use one inside your car if it’s winter and you live in the Midwest. While working in a ‘commercial kitchen’ (I call it a grease pit) I let a buddy hang out in my car and have a smoke while listening to some tunes, probably something of mine I had just recorded. Being a 22 year old bachelor at the time the passenger floorboard was littered with the remnants of many a drive-thru breakfast and the ashtray was overflowing so when he didn’t notice that his cherry had fallen out guess what happened?

In the meantime yours truly had been trying for months to make time with this gorgeous waitress who kept blowing me off. Finally I got her to come out on break with me and hang a bit, listen to my latest musical masterpiece, blah blah blah. As we round the corner to the parking lot we notice that my car is filled with smoke. Opening the door reveals a small fire on the floor of the passenger side. Being young and dumb I run back in after shouting a basket full of ‘motherfucker’s and grab the fire extinguisher. How did I know that stuff doesn’t wash out. For the rest of that winter I drove from side of Indianapolis to the other damn near everyday with the windows down.

Yes, folks, it’s a good idea to understand fire extinguishers.

By: Wes

Wes — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:32:19 +0000

Regarding maintenance, be sure to SHAKE your extinguisher periodically. The solids will settle to the bottom, often forming a clump, thereby lessening the effectiveness of the extinguisher. This is especially true for those mounted in autos and boats. To check for this- grab your ext. and move it around. It’ll feel bottom-heavy. With one hand atop and one on the bottom, shake it around; side to side, upside down, etc. This should break up the solids. Think “over-size spray can without a rattle”. Hope this helps. FYI, I keep one under the kitchen sink and one in the garage.

By: David Humble

David Humble — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:20:30 +0000

working as a professional chef I’ve been around lots of fires, mostly grease and oil, the of gas leak and then others in a non professional setting.

The most fun I had with a fire extinguisher was a deep fryer that super heated and went up. it was quickly and easily dealt with. much easier than using the big ansul system.

for most fires in a kitchen we use salt. I find it easier to clean up that baking powder, you usually have more salt than baking powder as well. don’t ever think about using flour in place I’d baking powder, our anything starchy. that’s as bad as water on grease.

Practice is number one. I’ve used a few different types of fire extinguishers, been trained professionally as well. I would strongly recommend checking the fire extinguishers in my house monthly. I know how to use mine and I know how to kill both gas and electricity in my house. My better half does as well.

By: chris

chris — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:15:07 +0000

@John Great points on judging the size of the fire and having someone call the FD. Just because I can put out the visible fire doesn’t mean it isn’t burning elsewhere.