4 Must - Know Facts About Fire Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers - based from what they are called, you can actually already determine what their existence is for - to mainly fight blazes. This is why a lot of homes, residential and commercial buildings alike find it necessary to invest in them and maintain them as required. However, even if extinguishers in general are recognized to be a need, a lot of people still have a few misconceptions about them. And having these misconceptions may be quite dangerous because they may cause other people to make fatal mistakes when using a fire safety extinguisher.
So to help straighten these out, here are common misconceptions along with some facts about extinguishers that you may need to know.

1.Even if all canisters look the same, the contents and purposes of the extinguishers are not. If your actually spend time to do research about them, you will find that extinguishers may be filled with several compounds/ chemicals. A few of the examples are water, co2, dry chemical, wet chemical and so on and so forth.

Their difference in contents is not just for the sake of novelty or variety. The contents are different because each has their own purpose. Water extinguishers for example are only certified to put out class A flames, because if you attempt to use this in an electrical fire for example, you are only making matters worse by putting everyone at risk of electrocution.

2.For these extinguishers to be effective, they need to be maintained as required. Note however that maintenance for these things may be different depending on their content. So when purchasing, make sure that you spend time with a supplier in discussing what measures should be done to keep the extinguishers in their best shape.

3.Operating fire extinguishers is easy. You just have to remember the meaning of the acronym "PASS" and you will be good to go. For those of you who are not aware of what "PASS" means yet, it simply stands for:

a.P - Pull the pin (usually located near the squeeze trigger of the canister)
b.A - Aim for the base/ source of the fire itself
c.S - Squeeze to let out the chemical of course
d.S - Sweep from side to side to cover as much ground as you can.

4.For convenience and safety purposes, extinguishers have to be installed on a wall near the fire exit. This way, they can easily grabbed when needed and at same time the person using it can easily go out of the designated exit if the blaze he/ she is fighting proves to be unconquerable.

Those are some facts that hopefully can straighten out misconceptions extinguishers. Now, before this post ends, here is a reminder about a fire safety extinguisher that everyone should keep in mind.

While fire extinguishers are dependable in fighting blazes, one should also know when to stop using them. If the flames that you are attempting to fight becomes larger despite your efforts, drop the extinguisher and head out to the nearest exit. More than anything, you should be responsible for your safety and your life.