Fire extinguishers -Who has them?

[bubba327]

Who has checked their fire extinguishers lately?? Do you have them in your garage or shop? in your car or truck? do they need recharged??

As the Electrical Inspector for the city Department of Building Safety , I spend time with the City Fire Marshall's during joint inspections and sometime tour fire scenes after the fire.

A fire recently destroyed a local residence as a elderly man was working on his 72 chevy truck.

A fuel pump was being changed out on the truck, some fuel had spilled on the floor, and a propane space heater that was being used to warm the garage flashed the fuel vapors and the garage was soon fully engulfed, and the residence was fairly well destroyed before the trucks got there to put the fire under control.

The man escaped with his life , a few burns and is very distraught, but he will recover. His house, belongings and his classic cars are gone beyond repair.
Regardless if the Insurance will cover the loss or not, The inconvenience and PIA factor of it all is beyond the dollar value.

PLEASE be careful if a fuel load or fuel vapors are present in a garage with a furnace or water heater or space heater with a pilot light!

Store your gas cans somewhere away from your welder or grinders. Store the paint cans in a locker or away from sources of ignition.
Pick up trash, papers or other loose flammable things if you are welding or grinding. propane bottles can go out in the shed away from the garage.

If you have fire extinguishers by all the exits, that is Great!!!!
But they do need checked and recharged. Check the date tag of the last recharge. Time does fly by and geez -are they that old????

Check your yellow pages for a company who can re-fill and certify them. I buy new ones and let my kids use the old ones to blast away on a brush fire to learn how to use them properly. Every body should know how to use a fire extinguisher!!


And as the time changes tonight, Remember to change the batteries in the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors too!!

This is one fire scene that has left me pretty shaken up.

If just one guy checks out his fire situation........................................ it will help