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I had a "super saturday" training last weekend. For those that aren't familiar, its a training that's about 8 hours long and covers every single required training topic, all in one shot. Well, they had a couple local volunteer fire dept. members cover fire & safety topics, and we got to use a fire extinguisher on a real controlled fire. I have never used one before and really wanted to try. I was super nervous at first. The fire was burning propane so it was hotter standing in front of it, than a normal house fire would be. It was actually quite easy putting it out, which gave me a huge confidence boost... Like conquering a fear of sorts. Less than half our group wanted to try the extinguisher though, which surprised me. My thoughts were that they should've tried, incase it ever should happen, they would have a little experience in putting a fire out. But those that were too nervous to try, said that they don't mess with fire and would gather the kids and get out, not try to fight the fire first. Understandable. I found all the different opinions interesting! Has anyone ever used an extinguisher before?
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I've not used one, but have always wanted to. -
Ive never HAD to but I have used one.
My DH's friend used to be the maintenance supervisor in a huge production plant in our community. When the plant shut down a few years ago my DH and his friend were hired to clean out what was left in the buildings after the auction.
There were hundreds of fire extinguishers..... most full but not really worth keeping as they were very heavy duty, industrial type ones that have since been improved.... but anyways, I digress...... but yes, we got to take all those fire extinguishers and empty them out before scrapping them.
It was definitely an experience and one I am glad I got to do because it wasn't as I'd imagined so I am grateful for the experience....because it was so different than I had imagined, I think it should be something everyone got a chance to do. It should be part of safety training for sure!!Last edited by Blackcat31; 06-03-2015, 08:03 AM.Comment
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That's exactly how I felt! We were able to learn what noise it made when it was getting empty, how it felt when squeezing the handle, and learned what to expect when spraying it. It was shocking to see the aftermath of the powder too. We were outside in a parking lot next to a church. The fire guys had to power wash the side of the church, the surrounding vehicles, sidewalks... Etc. It certainly made us imagine what it would be like in a house! Whew! It was an awesome experience for sure!Comment
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In Kansas, our fire marshals can't agree with the state licensing regulations. The regs state that we have to have a fire extinguisher on the premises, but the fire marshal makes us sign an agreement to never use it, just to get the kids out asap.Comment
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We used to be required to have a fire extinguisher but not anymore . We are told NOT to try to put the fire out just get everyone out and call 911 .Comment
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We have to have one in Illinois.
I've had to use mine a few years ago when we had a fire in the bedroom. The extinguisher didn't put it out completely, but it knocked it down enough that I was able to keep it contained till FD got there and put it out.Comment
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I used to work in a nursing home as a nursing Aid, and it was a requirement of our safety training every year, that we had to extinguish a fire with one. They would put the pin back in every time so that we got the whole experience of pulling the pin and putting out the fire.
I think they're probably recommending getting everyone out because it takes certain chemicals to put out certain fires and not a lot of people know the difference. You cannot use a regular fire extinguisher on a kitchen/grease fire. You will burn your whole kitchen down. There is a special chemical/extinguisher for that. But if you didn't know that, you would try with a regular one and have a big problem.Comment
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