On 20 Jul 2005 23:58:37 -0700, wrote:

I only mentioned fire extinguisher because, when I turned on the C/H in
one of my flats the other day, there was a sharp crack, the power went
off, and I could smell a burning smell near the Fuse Box. It turned out
to be no big deal - a wire had burnt out, and cooled down fairly
quickly, and it's now fixed. However, I felt really
uncomfortable/worried, and would have felt a lot better if I had had an
extinguisher handy. Pull the loop, aim at base of fire, press the
trigger - not sure what's difficult about that g

Not difficult, but if I understand right, lethal. It is essential to
stand on the exit side of the fire, so that when the fire is 5x the
size after youre done spraying it, youre not then trapped and facing
death. That is, again IIUC, one way they get people into trouble.
Another is they expose you to smoke inhalation, which kills more people
than the fire itself.

When I went on a fire safety course the fireman said get a fire
blanket not an extinguisher cos ...

- There are several types of extinguisher for different sorts of fire
and will you choose the right one in the heat and the smoke of the
moment?

- If the fire is too big to put out with a fire blanket then you don't
want to be anywhere near it

- Fire blankets are better than extinguishers for dealing quickly and
safely with a chip pan fire

Anna


~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
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