Fire Extinguisher Colours

[bernardgreen]

Since the rules changed to require all fire extinguishers to be red irrespective of type a potential danger may exist.

How does one tell in flickering fire light which is the correct extingusher when on offer at the fire point are three different types. The lights have failed but there may still be electrical power to the burning equipment so water is not to be used.

Anyone have a sure fire way to prevent this ( other than banning water based extinguishers )

Bernard
Sharnbrook
UK

 

[breezer]

or

but if things are that bad, your life is more important, get out

 

[BoxBasher]

How does one tell in flickering fire light which is the correct extingusher when on offer at the fire point are three different types. The lights have failed but there may still be electrical power to the burning equipment so water is not to be used.

Apart from the fact that extinguishers to be used on electrical appliances are CO2 which have a "horn" not a hose, allowance is still made for colour coding stripes or patches.

I'd never be able to tell the difference between red and black in a dark smoke filled room anyway, hence why fire extinguishers should be situated by an exit door.

If the fire is that bad that you cannot read the writing due to smoke, or it is too dark, thatn I would suggest that fighting the fire with domestic extinguishers is a bad idea anyway.

Get out, grab the extinguisher on the way out and read it outside. Then after assessing the situation (and adrenalin has settled) you will probably find you don't want to go back in anyway...

 

[TicklyT]

I suppose we will have to look (or feel) for the fire extinguisher with a horn on the end of the hose - That should be the CO2...... However, if you are working in the dark, it's time to get out anyway....

Now, during fire drills everybody is told to WALK to the fire exit..... So why do the fire exit signs show a RUNNING man?

 

[breezer]

..... So why do the fire exit signs show a RUNNING man?

simple, its a subtle advertising for an Arnold Schwarzenegger film

 

[Nige F]

I drampt I was a fire extinguisher ...........woke up with a horn ................must`ve been a CO2 then

 

[Steve]

Fire extinguishers are hung on walls. Above them are glow-in-the-dark signs which tell you what type of extinguisher is hung below them. And the 2 cannot be mixed up because they have different hooks!

 

[TicklyT]

Fire extinguishers are hung on walls

So that's where they should be when they are not used to prop the fire doors open!

I've seen many extinguishers just stood on the floor underneath gaping holes in plasterboard walls where the brackets used to be. I don't think the installers had realised that a fire extinguisher is a bit chunky to hang on a short bit of 1" flat bar fixed to the middle of a plasterboard panel with two 1" No. 8 screws in red wall plugs

 

[breezer]

i agree to a point with your comment, but look at it form the other side.

all the poor bloke to fit it is given is a drill box of rawl plugs and screws, and told you have 40 to do today.

yes a nice piece of timber fixed to asud will be nice, or finding a stud in the first place is good, but people want things cheap, so that is what they get.

quote a fix it where you can £20

supply and fit suitable fixing position £23

differnce soon mounts up, extinguisher stands

like this one cost £30 each

 

[Pensdown]

How does one tell in flickering fire light which is the correct extingusher when on offer at the fire point are three different types. The lights have failed but there may still be electrical power to the burning equipment so water is not to be used.

Anyone have a sure fire way to prevent this ( other than banning water based extinguishers )

Bernard
Sharnbrook
UK

If your emergency lighting meets 5266 then I can't see a problem

Compulsory locations under BS 5266 are:

At stairs to illuminate each step
Change of direction
At each exit door
Safety signs
Each final exit point
Fire alarm call point
Intersections
Change of floor level
Fire fighting equipment / First Aid

 

[ukdan]

Does anyone follow this rule...
when i was in the army, when we had a fire drill we were told that when we were leaving the burning building we should pick up any available fire extinuishers on the way out, "just in case". Now, as a civvy, when i mention this rule where i work, people look at me like i'm stupid. I like to think that i'm a rational sort of fella and i think that it is a very good idea to pick up a fire extinguisher. I mean, what good is it if its stuck inside a burning building and the glowing embers are floating over the car park and setting fire to all the nice new cars? Does anyone else see what i mean?

 

[breezer]

waste of time.

a fire extinguisher is actualy a point of "first aid" for a fire, you use it to put out a small fire, i.e prevent it becoming bigger, so if embers are floating around, its not a job for you

 

[BoxBasher]

The fire extinguisher is great for chucking through the window of Curry's though. Nothing better than a bit of "fire induced looting".

 

[mlb3c]

I see what you mean Ukdan.....use the fire extinguisher (the one you grab on your way out) to put out the incidental fires caused by the BIG BLAZE....but wouldnt you be in the way of firefighters and their trucks and hoses? I think if a pretty car is in the way.....it wont be pretty for long

 

[Thermo]

s breezer says waste of time. ive been in a fire when i worked woolworths as a teenager. its quick scarey and a waste of time to do anything but save your life. ive also been through a fire training house with ba equipment on, as a training exercise with the frie brigade. Youve got to be mad to consider hanging around and fiddling with a fire extinguisher on all but the smallest fires, or going back into a smoke filled house.