Home Fire Extinguishers

Ebe_Scrooge

Emmia said:

Powder is incredibly messy

Powder is certainly messy - though less messy than a fire that gets out of control

twopenny said:

If you go to your local fire station thry will advise.
Your question prompted me to make a note of that - once it's not freezing.
If you ask them to call they sometimes do.
Just remember to remove any kettles and toasters from near sockets and overhead cupboards. They take a dim view. And you will be paranoid by the time they've left 

That's a good idea.  Thought I might post a link, this may be of some help to anyone who's wondering what type of extinguisher to get.  It's worth taking note of the ones that are "not suitable for chip pan fires" if that is a concern of yours.  And I'd hazard a guess that you'd be better off with a different extinguisher for the kitchen than for the garage, if you're the sort of person who enjoys tinkering around with cars.

Anyhow, hope this is of some help: https://www.firesafe.org.uk/types-use-and-colours-of-portable-fire-extinguishers/

jon81uk

Eldi_Dos said:

@hdh74, have you thought about doing a fire safety awareness course, you might be able to get your employer to organise or pay for one.Well worth doing.

The first one I did when I went home I got the deep fat fryer  and cut the lead off and put in bin. On the Monday when I went into work one of my colleagues had done the same. Never had one in the house since.

Why did you get rid of a perfectly safe appliance?
Chip pan fires are caused by chip pans on the hob. Proper thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers are much safer as they will cut off before the oil overheats.

ChasingtheWelshdream

My son visited the local fire station with Cubs. He came home with some
very informative leaflets. We took them
up on the offer of a free home inspection. They came round, talked through escape routes, gave advice and also left additional smoke alarms and an extra CO alarm as we didn’t have enough for the size house.

I would definitely recommend talking to them.

hdh74

Thanks for all the advice. I'll be sure to look into all that. We have an air fryer - happy with that. I store toaster etc under cupboards but pull them out for use.

Ebe_Scrooge

jon81uk said:

Eldi_Dos said:

@hdh74, have you thought about doing a fire safety awareness course, you might be able to get your employer to organise or pay for one.Well worth doing.

The first one I did when I went home I got the deep fat fryer  and cut the lead off and put in bin. On the Monday when I went into work one of my colleagues had done the same. Never had one in the house since.

Why did you get rid of a perfectly safe appliance?
Chip pan fires are caused by chip pans on the hob. Proper thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers are much safer as they will cut off before the oil overheats.

An excellent point.  That's the whole point of a deep fat fryer, they're far safer.  A saucepan filled with boiling hot fat, with no automatic temperature control, placed over an open flame or incandescent element, is inherently a danger unless you monitor it constantly.  Which is why chip pan fires always used to be one of the most common sources of domestic fires.

A purpose-designed deep fat fryer removes pretty much most of the risk (I'm not suggesting they should be left unattended, and plenty of people still use the "old fashioned" method).  But I think, like you,  the reaction from Eldi_Dos was a bit of an over-reaction.

Eldi_Dos

jon81uk said:

Eldi_Dos said:

@hdh74, have you thought about doing a fire safety awareness course, you might be able to get your employer to organise or pay for one.Well worth doing.

The first one I did when I went home I got the deep fat fryer  and cut the lead off and put in bin. On the Monday when I went into work one of my colleagues had done the same. Never had one in the house since.

Why did you get rid of a perfectly safe appliance?
Chip pan fires are caused by chip pans on the hob. Proper thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers are much safer as they will cut off before the oil overheats.

At the end of the course we were taken to a cordoned off area where a pan of oil was on a gas ring and was allowed to overheat and ignite.Then a suitably attired instructor with a long pole poured a small cupful of water into pan, the resulting explosion was frightening,it must be horrific in a confined space.That was in 1989 and is something never forgotten,as I say one other on the course binned theirs as well.

Although as you say they are thermostatically controlled, they are pans of boiling oil with a trailing lead.

Never regretted decision to bin it.

jon81uk

Eldi_Dos said:

jon81uk said:

Eldi_Dos said:

@hdh74, have you thought about doing a fire safety awareness course, you might be able to get your employer to organise or pay for one.Well worth doing.

The first one I did when I went home I got the deep fat fryer  and cut the lead off and put in bin. On the Monday when I went into work one of my colleagues had done the same. Never had one in the house since.

Why did you get rid of a perfectly safe appliance?
Chip pan fires are caused by chip pans on the hob. Proper thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers are much safer as they will cut off before the oil overheats.

At the end of the course we were taken to a cordoned off area where a pan of oil was on a gas ring and was allowed to overheat and ignite.Then a suitably attired instructor with a long pole poured a small cupful of water into pan, the resulting explosion was frightening,it must be horrific in a confined space.That was in 1989 and is something never forgotten,as I say one other on the course binned theirs as well.

Although as you say they are thermostatically controlled, they are pans of boiling oil with a trailing lead.

Never regretted decision to bin it.

I don’t think you took the right lesson from the demonstration. It was designed to show the dangers of chip pans, not electric deep fat fryers. And to show why a fire blanket or damp tea towel is best not adding water to an oil fire. 

It’s great you don’t regret binning a perfectly usable appliance, but there was no need to unless it was malfunctioning.

Eldi_Dos

jon81uk said:

Eldi_Dos said:

jon81uk said:

Eldi_Dos said:

@hdh74, have you thought about doing a fire safety awareness course, you might be able to get your employer to organise or pay for one.Well worth doing.

The first one I did when I went home I got the deep fat fryer  and cut the lead off and put in bin. On the Monday when I went into work one of my colleagues had done the same. Never had one in the house since.

Why did you get rid of a perfectly safe appliance?
Chip pan fires are caused by chip pans on the hob. Proper thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers are much safer as they will cut off before the oil overheats.

At the end of the course we were taken to a cordoned off area where a pan of oil was on a gas ring and was allowed to overheat and ignite.Then a suitably attired instructor with a long pole poured a small cupful of water into pan, the resulting explosion was frightening,it must be horrific in a confined space.That was in 1989 and is something never forgotten,as I say one other on the course binned theirs as well.

Although as you say they are thermostatically controlled, they are pans of boiling oil with a trailing lead.

Never regretted decision to bin it.

I don’t think you took the right lesson from the demonstration. It was designed to show the dangers of chip pans, not electric deep fat fryers. And to show why a fire blanket or damp tea towel is best not adding water to an oil fire. 

It’s great you don’t regret binning a perfectly usable appliance, but there was no need to unless it was malfunctioning.

The conclusion I came to was that I did not want containers of any type with boiling oil in my living space, your mention of damp tea towel, not for me, in an emergency who can be sure to know the difference between a wet tea towel and a damp one.
As to binning it ,if I deemed it was not something I wanted from a safety point of view why would I keep it or pass on to someone else.

Ebe_Scrooge

Eldi_Dos said:

jon81uk said:

Eldi_Dos said:

jon81uk said:

Eldi_Dos said:

@hdh74, have you thought about doing a fire safety awareness course, you might be able to get your employer to organise or pay for one.Well worth doing.

The first one I did when I went home I got the deep fat fryer  and cut the lead off and put in bin. On the Monday when I went into work one of my colleagues had done the same. Never had one in the house since.

Why did you get rid of a perfectly safe appliance?
Chip pan fires are caused by chip pans on the hob. Proper thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers are much safer as they will cut off before the oil overheats.

At the end of the course we were taken to a cordoned off area where a pan of oil was on a gas ring and was allowed to overheat and ignite.Then a suitably attired instructor with a long pole poured a small cupful of water into pan, the resulting explosion was frightening,it must be horrific in a confined space.That was in 1989 and is something never forgotten,as I say one other on the course binned theirs as well.

Although as you say they are thermostatically controlled, they are pans of boiling oil with a trailing lead.

Never regretted decision to bin it.

I don’t think you took the right lesson from the demonstration. It was designed to show the dangers of chip pans, not electric deep fat fryers. And to show why a fire blanket or damp tea towel is best not adding water to an oil fire. 

It’s great you don’t regret binning a perfectly usable appliance, but there was no need to unless it was malfunctioning.

The conclusion I came to was that I did not want containers of any type with boiling oil in my living space, your mention of damp tea towel, not for me, in an emergency who can be sure to know the difference between a wet tea towel and a damp one.
As to binning it ,if I deemed it was not something I wanted from a safety point of view why would I keep it or pass on to someone else.

It's your choice, of course.  But as jon81 says, a saucepan of fat on an open gas ring is very different from a purpose-designed fryer that has an integral electric element and that is thermostatically controlled.  That's pretty much the reason they became so popular - they eliminate the dangers associated with the "old-fashioned" way of frying chips.

As an aside, you're correct in saying that putting water onto a chip-pan fire is an extremely bad idea.  I can remember learning that at primary school (several ice-ages ago )

Eldi_Dos

hdh74 said:

Thanks for all the advice. I'll be sure to look into all that. We have an air fryer - happy with that. I store toaster etc under cupboards but pull them out for use.

If you do decide to approach your employer about organising or paying for a course could you post what their response was.