Do You Have a Fire Extinguisher in Your Home and is it Still Pressurized?

Yes I have 2 of them.

FYI you should turn over each of your fire extinguishers at least once every 6 months to keep them working right. That means pick it up, rotate it upside-down, and let the stuff inside slide to the top, then turn it back over. I learned this from a fire inspector that I had to guide through a datacenter once.

I have 3. 2 are still pressurized. One was used last night.

A note to everyone...do your welding before you paint and undercoat, or at least wait for it to dry fully first.

Piggybacking on this PSA to remind everyone;

• Attack the base of the fire, where the fuel source is. You need to break the fire triangle to stop the reaction, and drowning out oxygen is the easiest way.
• Each rated pound of fire extinguisher yields approximately one second of use. They go quickly when you’re fighting any fire, and even small fires fight back. 5lb is the minimum imo, look at any commercial setting where OSHA applies and it’s big 10-20lb tanks generally.
• Trainers advise to blow the whole extinguisher even if flames aren’t visible to prevent auto-ignition.
• You really, really want a hose on any extinguisher. Invert the extinguisher to get under a car/cabinet/low obstacle and the extinguisher is useless as the pressurized gas escapes, leaving behind the powder/foam/water that actually stops fire.

As a gift to my friends who were going to be first time parents, I bought them a pack and play, a first aid kit, and a fire extinguisher. They laughed at my fire extinguisher gift and told their other friends who also laughed.

I have four fire extinguishers:

• One in the kitchen
• One in the basement
• One in my office (where I do stuff like soldering and 3D-printing)
• One mounted to the roll bar of my Miata (I ought to get some for my other cars, but haven't gotten around to making mounting brackets yet)

However, I never would've thought to check them (or turn them upside down to "fluff" them) without this post, so thanks!

Followed by: do you have a functional fire extinguisher in your kitchen and can you reach it immediately?

Stove top fires are usually easy, just put a lid on whatever to put them out, but there's always going to be someone who panics and dumps water on a grease fire.

Absolutely it is one of these products that you probably never need. But when you do you are so happy you had it standing around.

I do routine inspections once a year when I do my fire alarm testing so every time I switch to daylight saving time.

I'm a professional fire performer, so I have four :P

(Admittedly two need refilling)

Those years of safety training finally paying off:

Do you know what types of fires your fire extinguisher is rated for? There are several different types. Most modern home fire extinguishers are rated for A (wood/paper), B (liquids like oil fires), and C (electrical), but you may have an older fire extinguisher or landlord who cheaped out on one that only works on some of those types.

If you have a fire that's based on metals (like fireworks) or exothermic chemical reactions, have a different fire extinguisher or call the fire department with special instructions.

Always remember the acronym PASS when using a fire extinguisher:

1. Pull the pin
2. Aim at the base of the fire
3. Squeeze the trigger
4. Sweep the fire extinguisher side to side to cover all of the fire till the fire is extinguished

Yup. We had one but after we had a smouldering fire in our outdoor trash can we got several for different points in the house. We also have escape ladders in the bedrooms.

Fire blankets are good to have as well

I don’t use permanently pressurized fire extinguishers anymore, as they are hard to maintain and rarely reach a life span of 20 years.

Make sure to check at least once every 3 years if the pressure is still in the green. If not, replace it immediately.

Do they go bad even if they are still pressurized? I'm thinking they are nearly 20 years old now...

To tag on to all the good advice, you should DEFINITELY keep a decent sized fire extinguisher in your car as well. I've stopped one engine fire on a car not my own from spreading by having one. Pop the hood (if it's safe to reach the latch) and unload that shit.

Currently have 6. I need to get more, and larger ones. We live in a log house, in an area that takes a minimum of 20 minutes for emergency services to get to, and heat with a wood stove. We absolutely need to practice fire safety all the time.

I have one that's over 20 years old and it still shows proper pressure. I haven't tested it, but I have replaced it.

I should start a fire...

Nope, don't even have a fire alarm.

Yes and yes, regularly serviced. And synced smoke alarms, wired with battery backup.

I've even got sprinklers.

I've never had to directly deal with a fire, but after an incident where a roommate took the only extinguisher in the house when he moved out and an electrical short from an old crappy dimmer switch, I'm big on having a couple on-hand.

I also have way too many hobbies involving stuff that can easily catch fire and they're so cheap that I have multiple on each floor. 2 on the upper floor where my sim-rig, 3D printers, reloading supplies, and electronics soldering bench are. One in the kitchen and one in the master bedroom. 2 in the garage (excluding the one that's mounted in my old MG), and finally one in the basement since there's basically nothing down there.

No

2 here, still full, and thanks for the reminder to check!

Yup, one for every floor!

I do, bought it when I bought my 3D printer.

I have one in my car, I check it every 6 months. I was trained to do full inspections and repairs at my last job. I only have a fire blanket in the house though.

Yes. Also have a fire blanket in the kitchen in case of grease fire.

Probably yes, and probably not

One 2.5 in each bedroom, a 5 in the kitchen and a 5 in the rest of the downstairs, a 10 and a 20 in the garage, and then a 20 CO2 for my servers.

Thanks for the reminder.

I have one and pressure is OK (at least if the gauge isn't stuck). Is there anything else that you can check yourself instead of having it professionally inspected once a year? Does anyone know what they inspect?

Yes and yes

Not really, my family looked at me like i was mad when i suggested it. Got an out of date powder extinguisher from Volvo tho. Seems to be intact

Yes, 4 easily accessible in various locations in the house and 1 in the garage. I check them all when I change out the batteries on my smoke alarms, which I do all at once when one starts to chirp.

Not directly in my home, but there‘s one in the stairway

Yes I fire extinquisher in my home all the time

I have 2. One in the kitchen and one in the garage. It's a cheap insurance

I have five! And I just checked them as part of my semi yearly maintenance.

Kitchen under stove, laundry room by dryer (wife and kids refuse to empty lint trap, smdh), one each by both furnaces (different parts of the basement), and one in the garage.

Never had to use one, hope to never have to.

Yes and yes, bought it for PCB rework but in general we should all have them.

One in the kitchen. One in living room next to the fireplace.

I do and I get it checked and retagged every year.

I have a few in the house and one in the car. I just updated the batteries in all my smoke and carbon monoxide alarms too.

One for every room I intent for humans to survive in, plus one in each car. Also recently upgraded to hardwired CO/smoke detectors and each bedroom also has a combination alarm that uses Z-Wave to alert me anywhere, just as a backup. Also, we practice fire and earthquake drills monthly, along with a couple of other scenarios that are more rare/less dangerous.

Yeah, three. One in the kitchen, one at the bottom of my basement stairs, and one in my laundry room.

Yes, and yes, that's what maintainence is for.

Yes; yes.

no, because my family insists it's not worth it.

Yes, one in the basement and one in the kitchen

Yeah, 4. Bought when we bought the house. Kitchen, bedroom, garage, and living roon where the wood stove is. Little one-time use ones in basement and kitchen again.