This is going to be more of a life pro tip, but trying to reach the largest audience here.
Just had a frantic neighbour knocking at my door saying there is a fire in her oven.
I was over there in under 60 seconds with the fire extinguisher. There was a pot of oil on fire wedged between the element and the rack. No way to quickly and safely remove it, so I blasted it.
If I had tried to remove the pan, it’s likely it would have ended up spilling burning oil everywhere and making the situation much worse. Now they just have a house full of dust to clean.
Will replace our extinguisher today and am considering buying a few more to gift this Christmas.
Yep. I have a kitchen extinguisher, one in the central bathroom, and one in the garage.
I have one in my kitchen. This kinda reminded me it’s been ages since i looked it over to make sure it’s in working condition.
Currently don’t have one (and should have), but I do know where the nearest fire extinguisher in my apartment’s corridor is.
I have lived in my apartment for two and a half years, and I’ve not seen someone come to test or check on the Fire Extinguishers once.
I personally wouldn’t trust them to work in a pinch, which is why I have my own. Hopefully your apartment managers are more diligent.
You can’t really test a fire extinguisher as it loses pressure when you discharge it.
As I pointed out in another comment, leaving them untouched and not turning them over to get the dust inside the can moving around and not stuck settled at the bottom is a real issue. To “test” them you basically ensure that the pressure is still where it needs to be and turn them over to get stuff unstuck from the bottom. That’s all I was referring to.
The fact that no one has touched them in two and a half years leads me to believe that all the dust is settled at the bottom of the extinguisher, and when an emergency arises, they won’t function properly.
Yes. But it is out of date.
Am a renter and I have an extinguisher provided for me. There is one in my kitchen that I always keep in reach and one right outside my front door. My last apartment did not provide one so I went out and bought one. I’d rather “waste” $40 than lose my belongings. I’d also like to get a fire blanket at some point, should really stop putting it off.
Protip from a fire performer, get a large piece of duvetyne (also called commando cloth) if you can. It’s much heavier duty than those shitty foil fire blankets and can be reused. Just don’t get it wet because the treatment will wash off.
We use them to put out giant flames on the norm.
How do those compare to fiberglass blankets? I do firecupping and appreciate having the protection of the blanket, but don’t want to worry about shards making my partners itchy. But I’ll deal with the itch if it means no fire worries…
We frequently use them to put out people. It’s the industry standard for putting out stuff
I’ve got both a fire extinguisher and a fire blanket, and I’ve only ever needed the blanket so far. $26 for a 5’ square fiberglass blanket that did the trick immediately the first time it was needed.
I have one right by the entry to my kitchen. I do occasionally check it’s pressure gauge. Mounted to the wall on a slide hook kinda thing.
Also “on hand” means easily accessible in case of a panicked emergency. Not buried behind the bikes in the garage. Not stowed in a drawer because “it didn’t match the decor.”
And replace them regularly even if you never use them. The only thing worse than not having a fire extinguisher is thinking you do have one and finding out it doesn’t work at a critical moment.
I’ve got one in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, and one in an easily-accessible closet in the hallway.
I used to rent an apartment, and they provided a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and bedroom, plus they had fire extinguishers (the “break glass to get it” type that get inspected yearly and ring an alarm when the glass is broken) and fire alarms on each floor.
Get a fire blanket too!
One beside the bed, one in the kitchen, and one near the front door.
For oven fires turn off the oven and shut the door. An oven is a fire box, it will contain the blaze. The oven probably isn’t completely airtight but it should be close enough that the fire will use up the oxygen and extinguish itself quickly (the vent will pull hot air out but not let cooler air back in). Let it sit for a while and cool after you can’t see flames anymore to make sure the fire doesn’t reignite when you open the door and let fresh air in. Fire can damage the elements and seals so the oven needs serviced before being used again but so long as the fire was only inside the oven it should be repairable.
Make sure your fire extinguisher has the right rating for the place it is stored. For the oven grease fire, and most kitchen fires, a class K extinguisher would have been most appropriate because it is designed to put out cooking oil fires with minimal splashing.
https://www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-and-articles/blogs/2022/08/26/fire-extinguisher-ratings
That’s sick! Love the chrome
So anyway, you started blasting.
I have a mini Aerosol can because there are non in the apartments in this complex.
There are some in the hallway thought.
though
Neat. I’ve never seen these before!
What is this, an extinguisher for ants?!
I really hope it’s not using flammable propellant.
I have 4 :)
Of course, I need them for work
I have several in my home. However, I need to get some for my cars.
If it’s a real extinguisher, can’t you just have it recharged and reuse it?
I’m assuming by the mention of powder everywhere that it’s a dry chem one, which usually don’t have a recharge port and tend to be single use. (but recyclable/exchangeable) The powder it uses is what complicates things as it’s messy (think baby powder mixed with baking soda messy) and would also need to be refilled.
