Do you have a fire extinguisher on hand?
Do you have a fire extinguisher on hand?
This is going to be more of a life pro tip, but trying to reach the largest audience here.
Just had a frantic neighbour knocking at my door saying there is a fire in her oven.
I was over there in under 60 seconds with the fire extinguisher. There was a pot of oil on fire wedged between the element and the rack. No way to quickly and safely remove it, so I blasted it.
If I had tried to remove the pan, it's likely it would have ended up spilling burning oil everywhere and making the situation much worse. Now they just have a house full of dust to clean.
Will replace our extinguisher today and am considering buying a few more to gift this Christmas.
I have one rated for grease fires in the kitchen and one rated for Magic Computer Smoke next to the electronics.
(I live in a small apartment, so two is probably already overkill).
Also, second pro-tip from a Firefighter friend: Regularly pick up your Fire Extinguisher and flip it upside down and tap the bottom like you're trying to get ketchup out of a glass bottle. Often the "dust" inside the extinguisher can settle for too long and when you go to use it... nothing comes out because it is all compacted on the bottom of the Extinguisher. So occasionally making sure everything is loose and ready to go is key. He suggested to me every few months to do it.
Also, remember all the stuff that kills small fires: salt, baking soda, a wet rag, a sponge, a bigger pot blocking the oxygen. Many people freak out for a minute while the fire grows out of control.
Assess the situation, but a good plan now is better than a perfect plan in a minute. No don't pour water on oil or electric fires. Use the baking soda, salt, or pot holder that's right next to the stove.
Solid suggestions!
I don't know why it gave me a memory of the server room at a building I worked at. If there was a fire, you had to leave the room immediately because the main fire suppression device was something that pumped all the oxygen out of the room, depriving the fire of the oxygen that allows it to burn.
Meaning, if you hung around in that room after the fire alarm went off, you'd have a good chance of getting stuck in there and dying of asphyxiation.
Not flour, though! A friend once had food in a pot on the stove catch fire, and she knew about putting salt or baking soda on oily fires, but in haste, grabbed the flour, instead. On the bright side, the resulting explosion did put the fire out by consuming the oxygen, but it cracked the kitchen window.
For a fire in a pot or pan, having a well-fitting lid ready, and sliding it on, is most effective. Make it a habit as you get out the pan to get out a lid that completely covers it, and put it within reach.
Edit to add: I have a fire extinguisher on the kitchen wall as well, because sometimes the fire isn't contained/containable. When I replaced my old unused one, I took it outside and practiced with it until it was empty, which was fun and educational.
Good tip!
Is this why my old extinguisher at camp just spits white dust?!
Tested it the other day, because why not? It's there because it's old, and the place is literally a swamp, nothing going to burn down.
Lol, white dust is what a dry powder extinguisher is meant to spit out. Ths issue is that if the powder becomes too compacted, it won't come out. Look up a video of a dry powder extinguisher in use to see if it's working like it should.
However, they are more-or-less single use. If you've used it, even partially, you should really get it recharged or replaced.
One beside the bed, one in the kitchen, and one near the front door.
For oven fires turn off the oven and shut the door. An oven is a fire box, it will contain the blaze. The oven probably isn't completely airtight but it should be close enough that the fire will use up the oxygen and extinguish itself quickly (the vent will pull hot air out but not let cooler air back in). Let it sit for a while and cool after you can't see flames anymore to make sure the fire doesn't reignite when you open the door and let fresh air in. Fire can damage the elements and seals so the oven needs serviced before being used again but so long as the fire was only inside the oven it should be repairable.
Make sure your fire extinguisher has the right rating for the place it is stored. For the oven grease fire, and most kitchen fires, a class K extinguisher would have been most appropriate because it is designed to put out cooking oil fires with minimal splashing.
https://www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-and-articles/blogs/2022/08/26/fire-extinguisher-ratings
So anyway, you started blasting.
Also "on hand" means easily accessible in case of a panicked emergency. Not buried behind the bikes in the garage. Not stowed in a drawer because "it didn't match the decor."
And replace them regularly even if you never use them. The only thing worse than not having a fire extinguisher is thinking you do have one and finding out it doesn't work at a critical moment.
Yes. I rent and my state requires that my landlord have so many based on the number of rooms and square footage.
Glad it worked out for you. For future reference, there are additional steps for grease/oil fires in the kitchen:
Turn off stove
Cover with lid
Then smother with the extinguisher, or baking soda or salt if you don't have an extinguisher handy. Never water.
The first two steps cutoff energy and oxygen, and will minimize the splatter that the extinguisher causes.
Unfortunately, there was no way to get to the pot, for some reason it was wedged between the rack and the element, so no chance of covering it
By law, apartments like mine should have one, so I guess there may be one somewhere. If there would actually be a fire, I wouldn't know where to look though
Figure out where it is ASAP or get one for yourself.
Fire extinguishers are worthless to most. Now hear me out. Most fire extinguishers go bad after ~a year of immobility and tend to be kept for several years after. When a fire breaks out, every second matters and fetching a worthless fire extinguisher costs time that no one has.
If you buy someone a fire extinguisher, you have to take on a degree of stewardship and explain the issue. You become fire extinguisher tech support. Set a calendar for them to periodically turn their fire extinguisher or it’s a paperweight. My father burned down the kitchen in an oil fire but luckily had a hand-me-down fire extinguisher to frustratedly shake for a minute. If you give, expect to educate.
I don't think that's true anymore. It used to be the case in older types that the powder inside would clamp after some time but the new powders don't do it. You just have to make sure that the gas is still pressurized inside.
Good tips, but FWIW ours has been sitting around for probably over a decade and it worked just fine
If you store extinguisher where fire goes you might not be able to get when fire. Careful.
In every room, I have either a fire extinguisher or a bucket of sand. I am biased in favor of the sand though.
Don't learn the hard way that fire extinguishers have expiration dates. Don't be like me.
Got one per floor. One of the first things we did when we bought a hoose was test all of the fire alarms and buy fire extinguishers.
Good thing we did too as two of the fire alarms did not work.
Hoose's are overrated.
Ur they aye
I have three. Thanks for spreading awareness. Everyone needs a few around the house.
No, I have four!
Yes. A large one wall mounted in a central location. A small one and a fire blanket in the kitchen.
I've never actually had a fire extinguisher before, I should buy one.
Yes, one per utility space (basement, garage, laundry room), kitchen, up near bedrooms.
Be sure your kitchen one is appropriate for grease fires
I have one in my car because it's required by law (Belgium). I don't have one in my house and I don't know anyone who does.
I do have multiple smoke detectors and carbonmonoxide detectors. The smoke detectors are required by law but there are still people who don't have them. Last night a family of 6 died in a fire and they apparently didn't have smoke detectors.I've been working from home for a while and the amount of people on conference calls who have dying smoke detectors that beep every other minute is too damn high.
I have a mini Aerosol can because there are non in the apartments in this complex.
There are some in the hallway thought.
Neat. I've never seen these before!
I really hope it's not using flammable propellant.
though
What is this, an extinguisher for ants?!
I don’t have one. I should get one.
Ordered. Thanks OP you might have just saved my life.
I hope I didn't.
..wait
Currently don't have one (and should have), but I do know where the nearest fire extinguisher in my apartment's corridor is.
I have lived in my apartment for two and a half years, and I've not seen someone come to test or check on the Fire Extinguishers once.
I personally wouldn't trust them to work in a pinch, which is why I have my own. Hopefully your apartment managers are more diligent.
I have one standing in the middle of the apartment where it is accessible from every room.
That's got to be exhausting, you should really let it sit down
One in each kitchen under the sink and one in the garage near my workbench.
We have several. Fire extinguisher is my favorite house/apartment warming gift to give.
I have several in my home. However, I need to get some for my cars.
Yep. I have a kitchen extinguisher, one in the central bathroom, and one in the garage.
Yup. Got one right next to the laboratory. One day, you could always forget to turn off a soldering iron!
Also -- if you're doing modern electronics development (or RC cars, or just have a lot of old phones), boy will you accumulate bad lithium cells. Fire-safe bags for them are really cheap!
I really need to get rid of my drone lipos but they cost me money so hopefully they don't pop haha
Haha, I have a similar problem. I had (very carefully) salvaged the battery from a crashed drone. They were higher energy density than anything I could buy in my country at the time. I rebuilt battery packs from them.
Now years later they're not so good and they have a semi-permanent home in a fireproof enclosure :( I should have thought about disposal first. Oh well, lesson learned.
Store them burried in a bucket of dry sand. That's literally how they get stored for disposal because that's the best place for them to be if they do pop.
I have one in the kitchen, and one in the vehicle I drive to work. I haven't had to use either one. Yet.
I have one right by the entry to my kitchen. I do occasionally check it's pressure gauge. Mounted to the wall on a slide hook kinda thing.
I've got one in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, and one in an easily-accessible closet in the hallway.
I used to rent an apartment, and they provided a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and bedroom, plus they had fire extinguishers (the "break glass to get it" type that get inspected yearly and ring an alarm when the glass is broken) and fire alarms on each floor.
Get a fire blanket too!
In my apartment building there's an extinguisher on every floor.
Yes, in my kitchen
I have one in my kitchen. This kinda reminded me it's been ages since i looked it over to make sure it's in working condition.
I have 4 :)
Of course, I need them for work
Yup. Near the wood stove, it's obvious why. For outside there's the garden hose, and if that doesn't help there's still the fire department. Basically a 1 minute drive there, while officially calling, waiting 4 minutes for the others to arrive and half a minute back lol
The safest I ever felt was when I lived across the street from the local Fire Department. If I ever had a fire (I never did while I lived there) I could have ran across the street and screamed and pointed at my place in under the time it would take to make a 911 call.
I have one in my pantry. Can't remember how long I've had it so guessing I should probably check it
Am a renter and I have an extinguisher provided for me. There is one in my kitchen that I always keep in reach and one right outside my front door. My last apartment did not provide one so I went out and bought one. I'd rather "waste" $40 than lose my belongings. I'd also like to get a fire blanket at some point, should really stop putting it off.
I've got both a fire extinguisher and a fire blanket, and I've only ever needed the blanket so far. $26 for a 5' square fiberglass blanket that did the trick immediately the first time it was needed.
Protip from a fire performer, get a large piece of duvetyne (also called commando cloth) if you can. It's much heavier duty than those shitty foil fire blankets and can be reused. Just don't get it wet because the treatment will wash off.
We use them to put out giant flames on the norm.
That's sick! Love the chrome
I have a fire blanket on the kitchen wall, not far from the cooktop, and a large fire extinguisher in the garage, just inside the door from the house (right near the foot of the stairs).
Yeah I have one under the kitchen sink. I've been kicking around the idea of getting one to put near the furnace or water boiler, but haven't done it yet.
Yes
If it's a real extinguisher, can't you just have it recharged and reuse it?
I'm assuming by the mention of powder everywhere that it's a dry chem one, which usually don't have a recharge port and tend to be single use. (but recyclable/exchangeable) The powder it uses is what complicates things as it's messy (think baby powder mixed with baking soda messy) and would also need to be refilled.
Yep, one in the utility room by the furnace, one in the upstairs front door closet beside the kitchen, and one in the garage. Haven't had to use them for myself personally... but the neighbours came slamming on the door a few times needing one.
IMO every residence should have one handy. Never know what could happen or who might need one. I really should get one thats rated for electrical fires however.
Please consider putting it slightly away from the furnace. Chances are by the time you notice a furnace fire, go there and try to take it, you now own a very burnt or at least extremely hot fire extinguisher. Put it nearby but so near that a fire would destroy it before you could use it.
Its on the opposite side of the room, roughly 10-12feet away. Good suggestion however!
We have three. One in the kitchen, one in the master bedroom and one in the garage. We also have fire escape ladders in the two occupied bedrooms.
I had to use one recently as our trash can caught fire. We had some towels we had used to oil our griddle and they must have still been hot when we threw them away.
One in the car (it’s a hybrid full of ‘splody batteries). One in the office. One larger one in the kitchen along with a pan fire thing. A big extinguisher on the middle landing in the house.
All those ‘fireXO’ ones suitable for any fire type… not that I’ve tested that yet. Thankfully.
Absolutely.
Yes, I have a wood burning fireplace just seemed like a good idea.
We have a large one just off the kitchen in the garage hanging just outside the door, and a small one in the kitchen.
I bought the large one after a house all but burnt down up the street like 7-8 years ago.
Yes. But it is out of date.
Have a small extinguisher under the kitchen sink for fat and a large one in the cupboard
I'm a renter so I'd sooner let the house burn down than spend $20 on a fire extinguisher. If the landlord wants to provide one I'd use it but it's not my responsibility to buy one.
the house is filled with your stuff which includes your physical body which includes your lungs which doesn't like fire or smoke all that much
If there's a fire I leave and my stuff is covered by insurance. Fire extinguisher are a good purchase if you live in an apartment or have stuff inside your house that you care about but for me that doesnt apply.
It's not there for you to save the house. It's a tool for you to save yourself by preventing it getting larger, or by clearing a temporary path.