Fire Safety Concerns/updates

[herk7769]

Just had my house and car extinguishers serviced last year. I had to say goodbye to some old friends (including my garage 10 pound Halon bottle) because the steel bottles had passed their static pressure test date and others were stamped "Not Refillable." The Fire Extinguisher place recycled the old bottles for me.

They did recommend that I donate two of them to the local Fire Department museum since they were examples that they did not have on display. They about creamed when I showed them my brass 2 1/2 gallon Sulphuric Acid and baking Soda Class A extinguisher that I rescued from an old school they were demolishing. I have all the parts including the glass acid bottle. It worked by turning it upside down. The glass stopper fell out of the acid bottle and the acid mixed with the baking soda solution in the water tank. That produced CO2 that forced the whole mess up the hose onto (hopefully) the fire.

[jimh]

a box of baking soda is good in a pinch for a kitchen fire.
we had halon next to the computer equipment. label read something to the order not to be used in confined spaces...not a direct quote...was more of a warning abt human occupancy during use.

the brass fire extinguisher was what we had in school coming up. the mill had cone shaped cans with sand in them with a label "Fire" on it. we have come a long way.

[herk7769]

Baking Soda is Sodium Bicarbonate. In the early dry chemical ABC fire extinguishers Sodium Bicarbonate with an anti-caking agent was what they filled them with. Shaking the box into a grease fire in a pan still works. (Although covering it with a lid works better).

Today's Dry Chemical extinguishers use "Purple K" which is Potassium Bicarbonate (thus the "K" symbol for Potassium) and an anti-caking agent.

NEVER use water on a grease (or oil) pan fire. The water will penetrate the oil; burst into steam from the hot oil and throw burning oil all over the place including you.

While pointing the dry chemical extinguisher at the base of the fire is the correct technique for general fire extinguisher use, it does not work with a pan fire. You will blast the burning oil or grease out of the pan. Better to start the extinguisher pointed a few inches in front of the pan and allow the cloud of agent from the extinguisher to blanket the pan and snuff the fire out. You may have to attack the fire from the side if the pan is on the front burner.

A wet towel might work in a pinch; but it is dangerous if it does not. You are just as likely to spread the fire than put it out.

[ResQMoore]

The best way to fight a grease pan fire is to put the lid on top of it, remove the heat, and let it burn itself out in the pan.

Remember "Put a lid on grease fires".

[herk7769]

Originally Posted by ResQMoore

The best way to fight a grease pan fire is to put the lid on top of it, remove the heat, and let it burn itself out in the pan.

Remember "Put a lid on grease fires".

Yep; but...

I can never find a lid the correct size when I need one to cook. Trying to find one when the thing is on fire might well be beyond my brain capacity.