Fire extinguishers banned as a fire safety hazard

[JohnRich 4]

News:

Fire extinguishers banned as a fire safety hazard

"Fire extinguishers could be removed from communal areas in flats throughout the country because they are a safety hazard, it has emerged. The life-saving devices encourage untrained people to fight a fire rather than leave the building, risk assessors in Bournemouth decided. There are fears that their recommendation, which has seen the extinguishers ripped out of several private, high-rise flats in the town, could set a national precedent..."

Source: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/115014-extinguishers-banned-as-a-fire-safety-hazard

[normiss 906]

this IS the country that also doesn't trust their own citizens with weapons....

apparently self protection and preservation are low on the list there....

[Andy9o8 3]

That's about as dumb as the logic behind not making condoms available to teenagers because it would encourage them to have sex.

[nigel99 647]

Quote

News:

Fire extinguishers banned as a fire safety hazard

"Fire extinguishers could be removed from communal areas in flats throughout the country because they are a safety hazard, it has emerged. The life-saving devices encourage untrained people to fight a fire rather than leave the building, risk assessors in Bournemouth decided. There are fears that their recommendation, which has seen the extinguishers ripped out of several private, high-rise flats in the town, could set a national precedent..."

Source: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/115014-extinguishers-banned-as-a-fire-safety-hazard

A risk assessment shows that the average person is more likely to do something stupid or misuse the equipment and get injured than be saved so why waste the money on them? The following incident happened 4 days ago in my home town. I don't know if you have ever seen water put on an oil fire it isn't pretty.

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A MAN had a lucky escape last night when he was prevented from tackling a fire in a chip pan fryer with a water extinguisher.

Firefighters said the man, who was in his 40s, had gone to grab the extinguisher to take on the fire, but the front door closed behind him and locked him out.

Fire crews were called to the second floor flat at Millgate, which is next to Wycombe Retail Park, at 9.31pm. They were able to stop the fire quickly, leaving only smoke damage to the property.

The man was treated for smoke inhalation by ambulance staff.

Watch manager Andy Jones said the man had a “lucky escape” by getting locked out of the flat.

He added: “The door locking on him probably stopped him getting severe burns. The water would have caused the flames to flare up and go over the top of him.

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[Andy9o8 3]

I think basic education can offset the unfortunate effect of the occasional twit. I remember as a child in school being taught not to put water on a grease or oil fire, and the difference between the 2 basic kinds of extinguishers.

I remember water extinguishers were popular in the US as late as the 1970s; but nowadays, most extinguishers in public buildings seem to be the dry-powder type. Many apartment fires start in the kitchen; so greasy fuel can be anticipated. Yes, that tenant should have known better. But by the same token, if the landlords of the apartment building in your story equipped the building only with water extinguishers, and didn't make dry-powder extinguishers easily accessible to the residents, those landlords were negligent, and were setting the residents up for anticipatable failure.

[nigel99 647]

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I think basic education can offset the unfortunate effect of the occasional twit. I remember as a child in school being taught not to put water on a grease or oil fire, and the difference between the 2 basic kinds of extinguishers.

I remember water extinguishers were popular in the US as late as the 1970s; but nowadays, most extinguishers in public buildings seem to be the dry-powder type. Many apartment fires start in the kitchen; so greasy fuel can be anticipated. That being the case, if the landlords of the apartment building in your story equipped the building only with water extinguishers, and didn't make dry-powder extinguishers easily accessible to the residents, those landlords were negligent, and were setting the residents up for anticipatable failure.

Someone can correct me but I believe a large proportion of high rise flats in the UK are council housing. I am not sure that education is on the agenda for the average tenant. Sorry if that comes across as condescending.

It is common practice in the UK to have both extinguisher types. Picture is what is in my office including the signs.

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[Andy9o8 3]

Quote

Quote

I think basic education can offset the unfortunate effect of the occasional twit. I remember as a child in school being taught not to put water on a grease or oil fire, and the difference between the 2 basic kinds of extinguishers.

I remember water extinguishers were popular in the US as late as the 1970s; but nowadays, most extinguishers in public buildings seem to be the dry-powder type. Many apartment fires start in the kitchen; so greasy fuel can be anticipated. That being the case, if the landlords of the apartment building in your story equipped the building only with water extinguishers, and didn't make dry-powder extinguishers easily accessible to the residents, those landlords were negligent, and were setting the residents up for anticipatable failure.

Someone can correct me but I believe a large proportion of high rise flats in the UK are council housing. I am not sure that education is on the agenda for the average tenant. Sorry if that comes across as condescending.

It is common practice in the UK to have both extinguisher types. Picture is what is in my office including the signs.

I'm trying to convey that that sort of basic education is best conveyed in a kid's formative years, while he's still under the wings of his parents and his schools, so that by the time he's an adult in his own right, it's already lodged between his ears.

The set-up shown in your picture is quite good, btw.

[JohnRich 4]

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It is common practice in the UK to have both extinguisher types. Picture is what is in my office including the signs.

Excellent! THAT is the solution. NOT to remove all extinguishers, so that small fires can become large fires.

And even if someone does put water on a grease fire, that's not going to make things any worse than having no extinguishers at all, with the fire department five minutes away. And perhaps when they see the results of their water application, they'll then think to go get the other type of extinguisher, and nip the problem in the bud.

But it seems the nanny state would prefer to see whole apartment building burned down, rather than to give the citizens the chance to stop a problem quick and early.

I keep a powder extinguisher in my kitchen area, and I will defy any government entity that tries to take that away from me.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

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And even if someone does put water on a grease fire, that's not going to make things any worse than having no extinguishers at all, with the fire department five minutes away. And perhaps when they see the results of their water application, they'll then think to go get the other type of extinguisher, and nip the problem in the bud.

Interestingly enough it is likely that the attitude displayed in this posting is exactly why they have decided to advocate removing the extinguishers.

[billvon 3,132]

>>And even if someone does put water on a grease fire, that's not going to make
>>things any worse than having no extinguishers at all

John, I hope you're joking here. (If not, there's an episode of Mythbusters you might want to watch.)

>it is likely that the attitude displayed in this posting is exactly why they have decided
>to advocate removing the extinguishers.

Yep.

[grimmie 186]

The NFPA has debated this in America for years, taking out public area extinguishers.
I used to train citizens how to use them. It's pretty comical how awkward people were trying to use them. I have no faith in anyone using them correctly in a real emergency.
In this cell phone age, calling 911 first is a better option.
And putting water on a grease fire is a disaster.

signed,
31 years on the FD,

[CanuckInUSA 0]

I know we are talking Fire Extinguishers here, but I would like to present an analogy which is similar.

The #1 priority of "First Aid" is: Prevention of further Injury

Example: there is no point running out in the middle of a fog filled highway to help people who have been involved in an accident when more vehicles continue to pile into the accident because they can not see where they are going. You are not helping anyone when you yourself become an accident victim because of your own stupidity.

Back on topic of Fire Extinguishers ...

They serve a purpose and sometimes (not always) can prevent a fire from getting out of control. People must use common sense when a fire breaks out. A fire extinguisher can help if the fire is caught early enough. But once smoke from the fire is filling the top half of the room, people must get the hell out of there ASAP as the shit is about to hit the fan.

Banning Fire Extinguishers is dumb beyond belief. But people must use common sense before they decide to pick up that Fire Extinguisher.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[david3 0]

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And even if someone does put water on a grease fire, that's not going to make things any worse than having no extinguishers at all, with the fire department five minutes away.

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/time-warp-grease-fire-wide.html

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80618765/

[Southern_Man 0]

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I keep a powder extinguisher in my kitchen area, and I will defy any government entity that tries to take that away from me.

They'll get my fire extinguisher when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"