How To Safely Use a Fire Extinguisher

8/17/2021 (Permalink)

A fire extinguisher can save your life and your home in Ogden, UT.

A kitchen fire can start in a matter of seconds and spread just as quickly. Knowing how to safely use a fire extinguisher in your Ogden, UT, a home could be the deciding factor between fire prevention and fire restoration.

Understand the Limitations.

A portable fire extinguisher can serve a wonderful purpose in protecting your home from the spread of flames. However, certain considerations must be made before deploying its use:

• First, it must be easily accessible. Fire can spread in mere seconds, and if your extinguisher isn’t nearby or outside of the inflamed area, its purpose will be negated before you can reach it.
• The fire should be in its incipient stage; small and contained to the original ignited material, such as a stovetop or wastebasket.
• A safe evacuation path should be behind you, not behind the flames.
• There is a limited amount of extinguishing agents within portable extinguishers that can be gone within seconds, rendering them useful only for the smallest of fires.

With these considerations in mind, it’s important to understand how to use the device.

Understand the P.A.S.S. Technique. 

The effective range of your fire extinguisher depends on the style. The common ABC extinguisher utilizes a dry chemical stream that can reach five to twenty feet, discharging within ten to twenty-five seconds. To use the extinguisher is simple as remembering the P.A.S.S. acronym:

1. Pull: Break the tamper seal by pulling the pinout.
2. Aim: Direct your aim low, pointing the extinguisher nozzle toward the base of the fire.
3. Squeeze: Squeeze the handle slowly and evenly, releasing a consistent stream of the extinguishing agent.
4. Sweep: Use a sweeping motion from side to side, continuing to aim at the fire near its base until it goes out. Continue to discharge once the flames have been extinguished to prevent reignition.

Fire damage is something all homeowners want to avoid, but safety should always remain a top priority. If you have any doubt about your ability to stop a fire, or your portable extinguisher cannot smother the flames, evacuate immediately, and call emergency services.

For more information, please visit us at SERVPROogdenut.com/fire-smoke-damage-restoration.