We've just finished 2 years of construction of a new 2-story home, attached 1,800 sf garage and a detached 2,500 sf workshop. I'm thinking we need some kind of fire extinguishers, as we live out of town and our volunteer FD says it would be 10 minutes (at best) before they'd arrive.

What do I need to know?

Lots of them.

I had a "small" fire in 2004. Mostly knocked down by me (inside with an extinguisher, outside with a hose), bought lots of needed time for the FD to show up.

I think I have at least four in my basement now, three on the ground floor, two upstairs. (and I have a small house). Plus two in my car and one in my shed.
Money wasted is money well spent in this case.

I have a decent sized extinguisher in my kitchen pantry.
A smaller one in the garage.

I need to get one for my pickup..

10 minutes...holy crap dude....make sure you have adequate insurance is the first thing!
as far as home extinguishers...a general ABC dry chem will snuff out most fires and is good for grease, flammable liquids, as well as any solid combustibles such as wood or furniture that gets going. The most important thing is to just get the hell out, what happens happens...any of your possessions aren't worth risking your life.

If it were me, being a little cautious and having some knowledge on the subject, I'd also consider a pressurized water extinguisher which gives the added benefit of cooling materials so they aren't as likely to reignite while you wait for your FD....they are a bit pricey though.

So on a related note... what is the useful life of an ABC dry extinguisher?

I got one as a thank you from my employer for helping successful fight a press fire, saving a 7 million dollar machine. That was about 25 years ago! Still have it in the kitchen and the indicator still is in the green.

Should I throw it out or keep it?

2A10BC extinguishers need to be serviced once a year. Basicly they sit and the powder settles, take a rubber mallet turn them over and whack em a few times. make sure the gauge says they are good. They last a few seconds!!! a few 10 pounders or even a bigger one or two in bad areas. Garage, utility room, laundry and a way to get out of your home quickly.

I would say 10 minutes is pretty quick and that is only if there is someone at the station when the call comes in. If someone has to get the truck and the volunteers have to drive/show up at the fire location, it will be a lot longer before any water is flowing. I don't mean to scare anyone but when I worked at a small f.d., I was the only paid fireman and the volunteers were paged out and then they responded to the fire location. If entry is required to knock down the fire, you will probably looking at least 20 minutes.

Why am I stating this? Just so you know to get a decent sized extinguisher for your home, as the cheaper retail store types might not be enough. Just be sure not to stay in the home as you can be overcome by smoke/fumes/heat,etc., quickly.

Also, what kind of construction do you have-wood frame,concrete,etc.? What is behind the drywall-wood studs or metal? How much stuff do you have in your home-fire load? Gas appliances?

There can be a lot of variables. There is nothing wrong with volunteer depts. and you could always ask them what they carry or what company they deal with for their extinguishers. That will give you better insight.

invest in a few minutes and get trained by your local fire fighters on how to properly use an extinguisher

they're not just point and shoot - if you do it wrong, you may end up simply spreading the fire and making things worse

Fire Extinguishers are great, If you are home. A ten pounder ABC in the Garage. Minimum five ABC in the kitchen. And any special hazards you might have. Flammable Metals etc. IE Class D. Look up 13R Home Sprinkler. 10 minute water supply required. Understand it is for life safety, not protection of the building. BUT and it is a big one. It will react and protect the building within its limitations for the first critical ten minutes.

PS Make sure your insurance is paid up.

They run out fast. Years ago I came across a car fire. Pulled out what I thought was a good fire extinguisher, spayed, knocked the flames out. They came back, spayed, etc. Then the extinguisher died.
Went to a house and started using a garden hose. Yea, yea, oil/ gas fire. Was able to keep the flames down until the fire truck arrived.
I now have a big one in the garage and another in the car.

Halotron is your friend.

I "sent" a skillet with a grease fire (wife frying chicken in 1977) up to the ceiling with a dry agent, up to the ceiling, got spattered with hot grease and dealt with nasty cleanup for months afterwards (finding powder almost anytime anything was touched).

Had a 1973 VW squareback engine catch fire and the base FD hit it with Purple K. and dealt with the nasty crap for a few weeks before I finally shitcanned the car.

Fought a couple of aircraft fires, one an "almost" brake/tire fire on an F-4 with the old CO2 bottle and dodged shrapnel when the part of the brakes came apart from the cold vs hot game.

And one Jet Fuel Starter fire on an F-15 engine start, using Halon. Nothing like stuff that works.

Except the tree hugging, dirt sucking Druids fearing the ozones getting all ate made the good stuff go away.

So, now I have Halotron bottles.

Two in my garage, one in my "old car" and one in the kitchen.

Remember; Base of fire, not the top, not the flames, no "spray and pray", hit the base/origination and that Halotron will "Mike Tyson" your fire right the fuck out.

quote:

Halotron is your friend.

Yep. Replaces old Halon extinguishers. Get some training from Fire Department. They LOVE to do this stuff. The guys basically sit around the firehouse waiting for a call, and would be happy to show you how.

Fire extinguishers are great for small fires. Pots and pans, maybe small electrical fires, as long as you catch them small. If it's in the cabinets, furniture or larger you better hope their response time is better than 10 minutes.

In a fire, 10 minutes is a LONG time. You can reach flashover in a small room in half that time.

I suggest a 5,000 gallon cistern, 200' of 1-3/4" double jacketed attack line with a Task Force tip nozzle and fight it yourself.

I like the way rightwire thinks! hahahaha

I'd have a 10BC in the kitchen BC (carbon dioxide gas) is good for grease fires and doesn't make a huge mess like ABC. I'd have 10 ABC's (dry chemical) everywhere else. It doesn't hurt to have 1 in every room of the house. I'd replace them every 10 years (you can always keep the old ones behind the new ones as spares).

quote:

Fire extinguishers are great for small fires. Pots and pans, maybe small electrical fires, as long as you catch them small. If it's in the cabinets, furniture or larger you better hope their response time is better than 10 minutes.

In a fire, 10 minutes is a LONG time. You can reach flashover in a small room in half that time.

I suggest a 5,000 gallon cistern, 200' of 1-3/4" double jacketed attack line with a Task Force tip nozzle and fight it yourself.

No way. I think an overhead sprinkler system is the way to go. Lots of fun when it accidentally gets turned on.

I saw 5# ABC at Costco today, but it sounds like those aren't big enough. Will look around for Halotron, and go talk to the FD in town.

A 5,000 gallon cistern would be possible, but 4 months of the year it would be an ice cube. I looked into residential sprinklers when designing the house, but the complexity of the system for cold wx was more than I wanted to tackle.

All structures are 2x6 wood stud with Hardiplank siding - closed cell polyurethane foam insulation that might burn awful and give off toxic fumes. 5/8" Type X everywhere except the ceilings.

What a timely question, thanks for posting.

I just built a really nice work bench in my garage and am looking at a couple 2 or 3 or more new fire extinguishers.

Budget is always a concern, but I want the biggest ones I can reasonably afford and handle.

I have some older ones, I noted the comment above about turning them over and whacking them with a rubber mallet. It'd be really bad to try to use one and find out it's no good.

I'll check Costco and Sams.

Skimping on fire extinguishers is like buying the cheapest tires possible. I would not even bother with anything but the Haletron type. They also will not destroy computer equipment and data. The other extinguishers may put out the fire, but it will be a mess.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
I suggest a 5,000 gallon cistern, 200' of 1-3/4" double jacketed attack line with a Task Force tip nozzle and fight it yourself.

A Task Force tip, you heathen. Real men use Akron smooth bores.

But in all seriousness Rightwire's comments are correct. 10 minutes is a long time and in addition to flash over you can also run the risk of collapse in light weight construction. Of course it's also possible that a fire can go for a while and not cause flashover or collapse depending on a number of factors.

Remember, response time is gauged from when the call is received. Often a structure is burning for a period of time before neighbors see the smoke and call it in. In addition to extinguishers, I would recommend a centrally monitored alarm system with a heat/smoke detection system.