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rockies
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# Posted: 31 Oct 2018 19:23
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As we get into wood stove season the chances of a cabin fire increase, but different types of fires (wood, grease, gas) need different kinds of extinguishers.
This guide will help you choose the best fire extinguisher.
https://surreyfire.co.uk/types-of-fire-extinguisher/
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Dekagoldwingers
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# Posted: 5 Nov 2018 21:58
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Speaking as a retired Fire Safety officer in Canada, I would recommend a general purpose “ABC†extinguisher approx. 5lbs in size. A 2 1/2# to 5# size is easy to handle for most folks and good for inside the home. Mount it in an easily accessible location between the Highest risk (usually the stove) and the exit. Always approach a fire from an exit, so you have a clear retreat path. If you don’t have a local fire dept. then get 1 to 2 larger backup extinguishers of the same type but 5 to 10# each. For the fire pit, I keep a rechargeable pressurized water extinguisher. They are filled with 2 gals. (8 litres) of water and can be pressurized by a tire pump. They are handy for the cabin as you can empty them at the end of the season and refill them in the spring, no freeze up problems. For a super hint add a 1/4 cup of detergent to the water when you fill it and the extinguisher will work better at extinguishing, because the water will soak into the ground or burn pile. For bush fire fighting we keep 500 gals of water in 2 cage tanks plumbed to be pumped from my 1 1/2†gas powered pum0 with a length of firehouse and a nozzle, and an adapter to garden hoses for sprinklers to wet down the area around our buildings.
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Cowracer
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# Posted: 6 Nov 2018 09:11 - Edited by: Cowracer
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Better yet,
Check with your local FD. They might have classes showing proper selection and USE of extinguishers.
Mine had a neat program where you actually got to use real extinguishers to put out different types of fires. It's one thing to read instructions, it's totally different to see how they work, their limitations, and how fires respond. Properly used, a 10 pound dry chemical extinguisher will put out a hell of a lot of fire. Improperly used, and it won't do much at all.
When the stove is on fire is not the ideal time to start thinking about how to properly lay down the extinguishers agent.
Tim
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Dekagoldwingers
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# Posted: 6 Nov 2018 11:31
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Well said Tim, I used to teach those courses. The best th8ng to do with a stove fire is put the lid on and turn the heat off! Also never underestimate the value of blood old baking soda! It Works very well.
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Cowracer
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# Posted: 6 Nov 2018 12:33 - Edited by: Cowracer
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Quoting: Dekagoldwingers he best thing to do with a stove fire is put the lid on and turn the heat off!
Long story, but a good read...
Once when my oldest (now 33) was about 5 or 6, the wife caught the stove on fire. She has never been a terribly good cook, and back then she always had the wild idea that putting the burner on HIGH would make the pan heat up faster. Of course, there was times she would forget to turn it down and tried to cook with waaaaay to hot a pan. Many burgers were presented to me like burnt offerings to the Gods on the outside, and blood raw on the inside. Many fights ensued.
So this one fine day, she is cooking bacon, and getting the hell splattered out of herself while I was in the bedroom of the single-wide mobile home we lived in, when I heard her scream "TIM!!! FIRE!!!". I look up the hallway and see 4 foot flames coming off the pan. I race to the kitchen where she is thisclose to throwing a glass of water on the pan. "NOOOOOO!" I tell her to put the lid on the pan and she just locks the hell up mentally and clutches the boy close to her in corner of the kitchen. Presumably so at least they can die together. Who knows?
I search for the lid and can't find it. So I grab the next best thing, a round pizza pan laying by the stove. It helps but soon the flames are pouring out from under the pan. The wife is not responding to my shouting for her to get out of the house, so I gotta do something. I grab the pan and proceed to the front door. Had I tripped or dropped the pan, it could have been the end for all of us.
So I am Cadillacing to the front door, getting the living hell burnt out of my arm and trying to keep my grip on the pan no matter what. I make it to the door, throw it open and fling the burning pan out the door. The force of me throwing the door open caused it to rebound and shut on me. Fine. I turn around, see the wife and boy crying in fear, the house is full of smoke, a trail of smoke is on the ceiling from the stove to the door, all the hair is burnt off my arm. End table by couch is knocked over (by me). Smoke alarms are both screaming their obnoxious songs. Overall a scene of chaos that could have been avoided if she would just listen to me about using HIGH on the stove all the time. I raise my finger to start yelling this simple fact to her, when that little light in the corner of my eye starts blinking to alert me to a very important message from the brain. "Idiot... You just threw a pan of flaming grease out onto a wood deck."
{sigh}
I flip the door back open and sure enough, the deck is rolling. I yank the front window curtains down, destroying the rod and hangers, and beat the fire out on the deck. So added to the prior carnage, I now got holes in the walls from pulling the screws out, a destroyed set of curtains, paint scorched off the deck and I also managed to break my favorite lamp in the process. And on top of it, I wasn't gonna get my BLT for lunch. I entered the house and slowly and evenly stated that if she ever touched the stove again, I would beat her to death with a shoe.
Funny note... after we calmed down and were moping up the grease and tears and snot, and generally putting the house back in order, she stops mid- track and makes a funny "Humpf" sound. I ask "what" and she just points at the freaking FIRE EXTINGUISHER hanging 2 feet from the stove, that had been there for a couple years. I even put the damn thing in myself when we bought the place. In the panic of the moment, neither one of us even remembered we had it.
Tim
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sparky30_06
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# Posted: 6 Nov 2018 14:59
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holly cow Cowracer
I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes I'm laughing so hard!!!!
But on a serious note, most people freeze in fear or go into muscle memory and think, fire, water!!! not a good idea for sure.
A class on how to properly use a fire extinguisher is a great idea and also practice emergency drills and remember REMAIN CALM!!!!
I have had some good training working off shore and glad I have that under my belt.
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