# Fire Extinguishers



## Jimmy24 (Apr 20, 2011)

Maybe a talk and thoughts about having and using fire extingushers would be a better topic...

Do you have fire extingushers in your car, home, shop, boat????

I have them. 2 in the house. 1 in the truck. I have 4 at the retreat in various locations. Along with 2 dedicated 3/4 inch water hoses with fire hose type nozzles. My well is independently wired from the house. One hose comes from the well and one from the community water.

I see protecting my place from fire as a big prepping issue. If you are in a SHTF/TEOTWAWKI then you certainly want that protection IMO.

How about you?

Jimmy


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## power (May 7, 2011)

That is one part of prepping where I am lacking. Not a fire extinguisher on the place. Guess I should look into changing that.


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

Make sure that when a fire happens you know what you are spraying these chemicals on and what kind of chemicals they are. There are different extinguishers for different things. If you are spraying something putting out voltage with the wrong extinguisher you can get zapped IIRC.


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## Moose33 (Jan 1, 2011)

Hi Jimmy24,
I have one in my bedroom, one near the wood stove which is about eight feet from my cooking stove and another in my spare bedroom. Better get one for the car, thanks, forgot that one.
Take care,
Moose

Ant, mine are ABC extinguishers. They are supposed to be good for trash, wood, gas or electrical fires. I think I have the right kind for what I'm most likley to come up against. Better check with the Chief in the morning. 
Moose


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## Jimmy24 (Apr 20, 2011)

TheAnt said:


> Make sure that when a fire happens you know what you are spraying these chemicals on and what kind of chemicals they are. There are different extinguishers for different things. If you are spraying something putting out voltage with the wrong extinguisher you can get zapped IIRC.


Though there are many types of fires and fire extingushers, the ABC is what the general type to use. It covers all sorts of fires.

Electrical fires are not to be fought with anything. the power should be killed before fighting a fire caused by an electrical issue. You cannot put out a fire that still has an energized circuit. You cannot put it out. been there too many times with this one.

Jimmy


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

I have a fire extinguisher for every vehicle and almost for every room in the house. For purposes of protecting from a forest/wild fire I recommend using a product like:

Home - Barricade International

or

Thermo-Gel: Homesowners : Homeowners

the redwoods group has this to say:

http://www.redwoodsgroup.com/ymca/wildfireprotection_barricadegelrmt.pdf


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Here's another thread that deals with my personal experience with fire extinguisher's a couple years ago.

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/fire-extinguishers-2248/


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## TimB (Nov 11, 2008)

While I have several in the house, truck, and camper, I still keep a large box of baking soda in the kitchen (house and camper) for the possibility of a grease fire. :2thumb: Lot less muss and fuss. 

Tim


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## Kai22 (Apr 30, 2011)

I have fire extinguishers in the kitchen and hall closet. I'd like a couple more. 

For outside fire protection, we've got a creek out back with a gas powered portable pump. My local firemen were nice enough to give me some of their old hose, so there's a couple hundred feet of 3 inch fire hose hooked up to it. Works great for watering my lawn and garden ! We had a fire down the street a couple of years ago and I was pretty thankful for that creek. We had flying globs of flaming cottonwood fluff raining down on us.


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## tac803 (Nov 21, 2010)

Good topic selection!

I'm amazed at the number of people who give little to no thought about firefighting at the homestead / bol / or while on the road in their vehicle. I'd like to pass along a couple of suggestions.

1-Figure out what kinds of fire hazards you have in your area of responsibility. The home contains flammable solids, liquids, and probably gases. Solids include the structure of the house and supporting members, as well as most contents. Liquids like gasoline and kerosene should never be stored in a house, but I'm petty sure they can be found in 8 out of 10 garages, many of which are attached to the house. Gases include stored aerosol cans like bug spray, paint, solvents etc.

2-The best way to fight a fire is to make sure one doesn't happen in the first place. Store flammable items safely, in accordance with local codes and safe practices. Make sure smokers put out all lit smoking materials in a safe place (and the mulch in the flower bed is NOT a great place to butt a cigarette!).

3-Once you have done the above, now it's time to figure out what kind of firefighting materials you need. One of the most overlooked but truly useful firefighting tools is a garden house with a smoothbore nozzle. I have, on two seperate occasions, been able to use a garden hose to prevent a house from lighting up while the unattached garage burned. It won't put out a garage on fire, but it will cool the siding and shingles of something close that hasn't started on fire yet. The smooth bore brass nozzle and decent pressure put a nice stream out that can put a knock on a decent size fire. Garden hoses can put out quite a bit of grass fire, and I used one with an adjustable nozzle to put out the leaking propane grill that started on fire 4 feet away from my house (I have had special training extinguishing propane and pressurized fires. If you don't have the training, the best thing you can do with a burning propane tank is to get well away from it and call the fire department). You do want to be careful about using water on flammable liquid fires, especially oil and gasoline. They can be put out with water by people who have been trained how to do it, but the more likely outcome is spreading the flaming fuel all over the immediate area and making an interesting call for the local fire department.

In the winter, my 100' of hose and smoothbore tip get stored on a reel in the basement hooked up to an inside spigot. There is enough hose to reach the attic, as well as out to the garage if needed. It won't freeze, and is ready to go as soon as the tap is turned on.

4-There are 4 common classes of fire, A, B, C, and D.

A- Flammable solids, such as wood, paper, cardboard

B- Flammable liquids like gasoline, oil, kerosene, etc.

C- Charged electrical equipment (once the current is turned off, it becomes whatever class of material is left burning). Unless you have been trained and have the proper equipment, *NEVER* use water on burning charged electrical equipment!

D- Flammable metals such as magnesium, aluminum, etc.

All extinguishers are rated for class. Multi purpose fire extinguishers are usually rated 2A, 10 BC, or something similar. That rating is an indication of how much fire they can put out and what class they work on. A water extinguisher is rated for Class A, and class A only. It can be dangerous to use an extingusiher on a fire other than what it's designed to handle.

Multi purpose extinguishers work pretty well putting out fires. That being said, if you don't have a safe way out, and the fire isn't small, you probably don't want to try to put it out. Even trained firefighters weigh the risk vs benefit of firefighting...you *don't trade lives for property*. If you have never used a fire extinguisher, you will be surprised at the noise they make when discharged. You will also see a very large, fast moving cloud of white powder. That's the fire extinguishing agent...and if you don't put it in the right place, the limited amount won't put the fire out, and that can be a problem.

You should have at least one appropriate extinguisher in each vehicle, and on each floor of the house or building. They should never be used to fight anything other than an incipient (read just starting) fire. Fire spreads in a structure exponentially, along with the heat and smoke. Smoke kills, so if caught in smoke, stay as low as possible.

Get training using an extinguisher, and practice if at all possible. Remember, just owning one doesn't make you a firefighter, and *life safety comes first*. Property can be replaced, people can't.

p.s. If a fire extinguisher is discharged at a person, for example a burglar, the person may have trouble seeing, breathing, and will require ems at the very least. You should never discharge a fire extinguisher toward a person unless they are on fire.


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## siafulinux (Jun 17, 2010)

Anyone seen these can extinguishers?

I've seen similar ones at my local Wal-Mart, but never went through with buying one. Thinking these could be good for smaller fires you catch quickly without the need of popping a full extinguisher? From what I've read they can put out a decent sized fire and from up to 10 feet or so away.

May also be good in the car, camper, etc. A lot cheaper to replace these also.


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## blarg (Sep 26, 2011)

I just checked mine and they haven't been inspected in 10 years. I'm not sure if they would still work. They are the bigger kind like businesses have to use. A friend on the fire department told me it's not worth it to get them recharged and to just buy the small ones at Walmart. I'm not sure though, I hate to throw them out.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

While I do not have one now in the car.. I used to carry them in each vehicle. The little ones do work very well for small fires. I used them both on a car engine that had caught fire. Probably more than what they were intended for they did the job.. (not my car.. just a young fella on the side of the road with his gal... )

I do need to replace them. But I have a bigger one in the kitchen and was told my a friend(who is now our local fire chief) to get it down and shake it a couple times a year. Says that it keeps the ingredients mixed and ready.. and it does keep the gauge in the green. We will replace the big one if we need to.
It only takes one fire in our home to make us keep one handy. There is even one in the shed and one in the camper. We all know where they are and we used a couple to "learn how they work" and then bought more.
But I also know how to put out kitchen fires with what ever is handy. Learned it working in restaurants. 
Pan on fire.. put a lid on it. Griddle caught fire baking soda or even plain flour dumped on heavy will work... Never try putting out a kitchen fire with water.. if it has grease or oil in it, water will just move it around.

Tac has great advice. I also know when to just get the heck out.


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## siafulinux (Jun 17, 2010)

Emerald said:


> While I do not have one now in the car.. I used to carry them in each vehicle. The little ones do work very well for small fires. I used them both on a car engine that had caught fire. Probably more than what they were intended for they did the job.. (not my car.. just a young fella on the side of the road with his gal... )


That's exactly the kind of use I was thinking with those little ones. I'm a firefighter myself but I've never tried the little can things. We always use the "big boys" to fight fire.  So my idea is to put a few of those things pretty much everywhere I think it would be useful. They're cheaper and are not heavy at all.


Put a few in the car; meaning the trunk and attached to the interior of the vehicle where it's accessible but not a danger. 
Put some in the kitchen; _away from fire areas like stoves_ but close enough to be useful. Shouldn't have to reach over the burning stove to get it! 
I want to create a "fire box" that includes escape material in case someone gets trapped in any given room. Some of those items would be the smaller can extinguishers; assuming of course the one's we have actually work well enough to give someone more of an opportunity to get out! This is NOT to put the whole fire out or to save the home, just to get oneself out of areas where you are trapped behind the flames.

I would obviously still have some larger one's around, but hope to just use the smaller can first. Anyway, guess I'll just need to buy one and use it up to see how effective the ones we have are.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

Our scout district just finnished our emergency preparedness, fire safety, firemans combat challenge camporee this last weekend. The central fire station gave 3/4 of it, I learned alot. I also need a couple more fire extinguishers and 1/2 of what I have need servicing.


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## tac803 (Nov 21, 2010)

Please, *NEVER THROW FLOUR at a fire*. Flour has a potential to explode spreading the fire. Emerald mentions pouring flour on a grease fire, but never throw it. Clouds of fine suspended organic particles, especially ones containing starch may explode violently under the right circumstances.

Thanks for the compliment emerald! Back at ya.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

tac803 said:


> Please, *NEVER THROW FLOUR at a fire*. Flour has a potential to explode spreading the fire. Emerald mentions pouring flour on a grease fire, but never throw it. Clouds of fine suspended organic particles, especially ones containing starch may explode violently under the right circumstances.
> 
> Thanks for the compliment emerald! Back at ya.


Baking soda works better if you have it in big amounts tho.. I read about flour mills that "exploded" due to the flour particles in the air and a fool who lit a cigar. But that was a long time ago.


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## tac803 (Nov 21, 2010)

Emerald said:


> Baking soda works better if you have it in big amounts tho.. I read about flour mills that "exploded" due to the flour particles in the air and a fool who lit a cigar. But that was a long time ago.


Baking soda works great for grease fires. My mother used to keep a box near the stove for just such occasions. Flour mills have been known to blow sky high, usually involving 2 explosions. The first dislodges flour dust from the rafters, nooks, and crannies which then explodes pretty dramatically on contact with an ignition source, usually the same one that caused the first explosion. Prevention is where it's at, but it's still good to be ready to fight.


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## tyler_kd0bsa (Nov 4, 2009)

I currently have four extinguishers. 3 abc dry chemical and 1 halotron. I carry one abc in the vehicle and the halotron in the vehicle too.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

saw a grain mill explode once. a person who was on top of a silo was found seven miles down river on top of a levee. the blast was felt 5 miles away. grain dust is HIGHLY explosive. I was in a building across the river and saw what i thought was debris flying, it was the worker.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

also magnesium fires need to be smothered to go out. they burn hot enough to reignite themselves. the whiter the flame the hotter the fire. flames will go from yellow, to orange, to blue, to blue/white, to white. copper will burn green.


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## dakota_cachers (Nov 4, 2011)

Here is a quick easy way to test your fire bottles, that have the chemical inside. Take a RUBBER mallet, and tap on the bottom. Make sure the spray end is pointed away from you. The chemical inside can become hard and clumped inside, and by tapping the bottom of the bottle this will allow it to move freely. Check the pressure guage, and if it drops after doing this, then the bottle needs to be replaced, or checked out by an extinguisher company. We do this monthly to almost 200 bottles at the apt building I work at. Then every year we have a company come in and make sure they are charged up and get recertified.


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## baconexplosion (Jan 7, 2012)

stayingthegame said:


> also magnesium fires need to be smothered to go out. they burn hot enough to reignite themselves. the whiter the flame the hotter the fire. flames will go from yellow, to orange, to blue, to blue/white, to white. copper will burn green.


Also, if you're unfortunate enough to come across a magnesium fire, don't ever put water on it! It causes a violent reaction that will thow molten hot pieces of burning magnesium everywhere.


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## aluminum (Mar 29, 2009)

I have found 3 of the large water type extinguishers at flee markets. You charge them up with 3 gallons of water and air them up to 100 psi. They are great for water fights too...... Talk about a supersoaker, lol


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## tac803 (Nov 21, 2010)

aluminum said:


> I have found 3 of the large water type extinguishers at flee markets. You charge them up with 3 gallons of water and air them up to 100 psi. They are great for water fights too...... Talk about a supersoaker, lol


You may want to have them inspected and tested at a fire extinguisher shop. I haven't seen them blow when being charged firsthand, but I've heard it's quite spectacular, with a pretty good chance of personal injury if your head or hands happen to be in the wrong place when it goes.


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## aluminum (Mar 29, 2009)

Thank you for the concern, but a casual look at them for damage is all that is needed... They are made from stainless steel, and as long as there is no visible damage they are good to go... 

The seal around the top (where you fill it with water) barely handles the needed full pressure of 100 psi, the tank itself (without it having this weak link of the seal) is probably easily capable of at least 500 psi.... So, before any life threatening pressures could be built, it would safely leak out...


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