Fire!

[Mary Fisher]

You're making an assumption. Three in fact.

The fire wasn't in a stove, I keep our cooker clean (rarely use fat anyway) and we don't have an electric hob.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Just had a look - it's ABC.

When I set up my workroom I asked advice from the Fire Service, they couldn't help, said they had no experience of wax fires. That really surprised me. I knew not to use water of course and I have a smoke alarm but I smelled over-heated wax before the smoke began to escape. In twenty years it's the first and it was contained in my special, small, highly insulated oven so it would have been suffocated eventually anyway and the outside couldn't have become hot enough to char anything touching it. Only glassware was touching it anyway. The smell of the smoke which DID escape was nasty! The inside of the oven was very sooty so I spent last night cleaning it (the stainless steel lining). It hasn't been as clean for years!

I might have a look, we don't want anything bigger than 1Kg for the caravan which is where the one we used is normally kept. I'm wondering if there's anything less messy which might be better for the caravan,.

Quite.

No chance!

:-)

Thanks,

Mary

[Nick]

I mentioned a stove because the cheapskate fire extinguisher works very well if a fire is underneath a radiant element. A blanket doesn't work very well in that case. And a stove is not damaged by baking soda and the mess is easy to clean up. I wouldn't use that method for fires elsewhere. We don't cook in fat at all, but sometimes the cook isn't paying attention to the cooking and something spills over and catches fire.

[Mary Fisher]

"nightjar .uk.com>"

It sounds as though that would be a better bet for the caravan - and tent too.

We've never had a fire there (or in the house before) but I once witnessed a caravan fire and it was a nightmare. Caused by someone changing a small gas cartridge inside the 'van with a candle burning ... he'll never do that again. Needless to say we never have or would.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Thanks,

What do cartridge-operated and stored-pressure mean, please?

Mary

>

[Mary Fisher]

Thanks for all that, it WAS an electrical fire which involved wax but there's no damage to the electrics (except some plastic insulation which has been replaced) and no saponification of the wax. I was half expecting that but it didn't happen.

Mary

>

[Guy King]

The message from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

Cartidge Operated have a thing like a giant soda-syphon cartridge inside. Much like a SodaStream thing. The propelling gas - usually CO2 - is sealed up tight inside this and very unlikely to leak out[1].

Stored Pressure keeps the whole extinguisher under pressure.

[1] Many years ago some friends and I used to frequent a dump where skips were emptied. To a bunch of mechanically minded teenagers it was a treasure trove as many of the skips came from factories and had rejected or obsolete stuff in 'em. On one occasion we found a pile of fire extinguisher cartridges - about 10" long and perhaps 1 3/4" diameter. We found that they fitted nicely down a scaffolding pole we found. There were two sorts - one with a brass block on the end with a notch cut into it which could be snapped off with a sharp blow. The other sort had a metal membrane which could be pierced with a nail. We devised ways to do both methods and spent a happy weekend (the dump was closed weekends) firing these things across the site. With luck you could get them to go well over 100yds.

[Kevin Poole]

Yup. Quick way to tell is that stored-pressure ones usually have a pressure gauge or similar indicator. "Servicing" cartridge-operated ones is little more than unscrewing the top, making sure it's not rusty inside, making sure it's full of magic water, and weighing the cartridge.

[Chris J Dixon]

I once saw someone have a narrow escape, at an event where barbecues were in use, though luckily some distance away. He was changing a gas cartridge, but, having pierced the seal, he dropped it. The entire contents were rapidly expelled, as a liquid, and vaporised in seconds. At least I now know what can happen.

Chris

[Mary Fisher]

Thanks.

it wouldn't be allowed now ... the dumping I mean. As a child I spent many happy hours rummaging around in the waste of a local textile mill. There were such beautiful fragments discarded ...

It was a different matter when two sons found a discarded car petrol tank, one held it between his legs, the other stuffed some dry leaves in the spout and put a match to it.

Several weeks in the burns unit and obsessive about fire safety was the result. That was almost twenty five years ago.

One rang tonight, I told him about my little escapade tonight, he gave me a lecture about different types of extinguisher. I needn't have started this thread, he knows even more than the folks here!

Or thinks he does. But that's sons for you.

When the other (RAF) e-mailed I didn't bother telling him, he's been in charge of a fire station during the strike so knows even more. HAHA!

Mary

[Christian McArdle]

used them before but used similar companies. Don't go paying shed prices for tiny extinguishers when less money gets you the real McCoy. In my house I have a 9L AFFF, a 6kg ABC and a 2kg CO2. 1kg BC types like those that you get in B&Q are pretty lame.

Christian.

[Mary Fisher]

> Not used them before but used similar companies. Don't go paying shed > prices

Christian, that looks good, thank you.

We looked in Screwfix yesterday but Istr that it was over £60 for a 6l AFFF which, in any case, we think would be unnecessarily large for the caravan. There is an issue of storage space. For the workroom a bigger one wouldn't be out of order, nor for the garage (his workshop).

I'll put it to him.

Mary All experiences have a positive side, we've learned a lot aboutextinguishers from this one!

[Dave Fawthrop]

|> It sounds as though that would be a better bet for the caravan - and tent |> too. | |

||Not used them before but used similar companies. Don't go paying shed prices |for tiny extinguishers when less money gets you the real McCoy. In my house |I have a 9L AFFF, a 6kg ABC and a 2kg CO2. 1kg BC types like those that you |get in B&Q are pretty lame.

Having lived in the same house for near 50 years, we have had one waste basket on fire, a few bits of burned toast, and a couple of burned out pans.

I live in a cul-de-sac of 16 houses, and non has even called the fire brigade in that time.

At that level of risk, my 1kg powder A B C and a couple of smoke detectors looks a bit OTT.

[Christian McArdle]

Well, the fire extinguishers aren't anywhere near as important as the smoke detectors. Mains linked smoke detectors are absolutely essential.

Fire extinguishers, on the other hand, can sometimes be detrimental, especially in the hands of an untrained person, who either spreads the fire or succumbs attempting to attack the fire instead of getting out.

Christian.

[zymurgy]

Heh. I work in IT support, and I had a phone call one day

"My monitor is on fire, what do I do" ?

Ye gods.

Paul.

[John Cartmell]

Re-boot?

[Mary Fisher]

I didn't write that! Haven't got a telly.

:-)

Mary

[Andy Dingley]

That depends whether you're a smoker or a welder.

[Mary Fisher]

My smoke detector was to see if my test candless moked.If so they were improperly wick'd.

Same thing, really.

Mary