Fire extinguisher good idea or bad

FlyingDonkeys

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

There are now water filled fire extinguishers that can safely be used on both cooking fat and electrical fires. These are called "Water mist" extinguishers and they are ideal for household use as they can be used in confined areas and after use only a very small clean up job is needed and they are suitable for all fire types apart from burning metals.

I've recently been on a firefighting training refresher course (I have to do this every 18 months as part of my employment) and saw one of these extinguishers in use against a drum of burning diesel and it was extremely effective in putting the fire out.

Thanks will do that. It was a tiny tiny fire.

FlyingDonkeys

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've never heard of that before! What on earth were you doing with it?

No point getting an extinguisher - it's safer for you to spend your time dialling 999 than waste time and risk your life trying to put out a kitchen fire in a room that has all manner of gas/electrical systems you could put at risk.

If somebody can create a fire with a spud they're a bigger danger to themselves... and, given a real fire and an extinguisher they then have to worry about if it's the "right sort" and read the instructions and do it right and hope it's a working extinguisher ..... it'd end in tears.

I'd put the potato in to cook for a few mins. Not doing that again.

Mojisola

50Twuncle wrote: »

WRONG - In an emergency - dial 999 - Get the experts in !!

If a few seconds spent throwing a fire blanket over a burning pan (before getting out of the house and dialing 999) can keep a small localised fire from becoming much more destructive, that's a reasonable thing for a fit adult to do.

Hedgehog99

When we did our fire training at work, they said that a fire blanket is best for the home kitchen, and to get a larger one if you can because by the time you've curled the corners back around your hands, you'll appreciate the larger size. I felt confident practising with the blanket during our training.

Foam and powder extinguishers make a right mess - yes, better than having a fire, but a blanket is great for hob and waste bin fires.

And if you do use a blanket, leave it in place until everything's cold - no peeking because you could allow oxygen back in & off it goes again.

silverwhistle

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

These are called "Water mist" extinguishers and ...

Thanks, new one on me. Long time since I've done any training, but isn't one of the general principles of fire fighting to have a mist of water because of the physics: it helps the transfer of the heat and energy of the fire more quickly into vapour?

shaun_from_Africa

silverwhistle wrote: »

Thanks, new one on me.

They are fairly new to the consumer market but I believe that the fire services have had something similar for a while.
Here's a demo of how effective they can be on different types of fire.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNFD-z4hXXQ

dr999

The best all-rounder these days for a kitchen is the MultiChem - I think they are made by Commander Fire Extinguishers. They have a Class A, Class B, Class F and electrical rating, and the fire ratings are much higher than water mist extinguishers. You can get them in 2, 3 and 6 litre sizes - the 2 and 3 litre ones are perfect for small and domestic kitchens.

DumbMuscle

silverwhistle wrote: »

Thanks, new one on me. Long time since I've done any training, but isn't one of the general principles of fire fighting to have a mist of water because of the physics: it helps the transfer of the heat and energy of the fire more quickly into vapour?

From a bit of reading up (http://www.fireservice.co.uk/safety/water-mist-extinguishers/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_extinguisher#Water_types ), it seems that the new thing about "water mist" extinguishers is that the water is a) deionised, and b) in a fine enough mist to not conduct electricity (though I would expect that to also be a consequence of it being deionised?). I would presume that the fact they are fat safe comes from the water droplets being small enough to vaporise before they can sink into the fat (which is what otherwise causes the fat to splatter and the fire to get worse if you use water).

They look to be on the intersection of "neat tech" and "useful object".

FlyingDonkeys

I'll second that
They look to be on the intersection of "neat tech" and "useful object".

Water mist it is. Thanks all.

I_have_spoken

I had a chip pan fire years ago.

Quick splosh of water onto the tea towel, threw over pan, left for 30 mins. Simples!

Ironically, not long after I left the gas ring alight and it caught the tea towel alight