Fire Extinguisher Advice?

[Rafe]

I was reading through the "November 4th... What are your preparations" topic, and it got me to thinking. Which is seldom a good thing for me to do. But...

It dawns on me, as I look around the house, that my weak link may not be water, food, medicine & first-aid, guns, or ammo. I still had only the "casual homeowner" attitude about fire extinguishers. Three very small residential-sized Kidde extinguishers: garage, kitchen, upstairs. A little grease fire in a pan, I'm good. A molotov cocktail against the front door? A tree on fire in the yard?

Eh... Not so much.

So I'm thinking of upgrading, or more correctly adding two more larger extinguishers. Leave a small one in the kitchen, move the small one in the garage as a 2nd upstairs, and get two new ones for the garage and the utility room...which is off the garage and about 15 feet from the front door, 30 feet from the kitchen.

I don't think I want to bother with anything smaller than 20lb ABC units, and Google shows me some that aren't that badly priced, as in $150ish. I could use something heavier, but I want to make sure my wife can deploy it, so 20lb seems like a good compromise.

But I don't know squat about brands/models of extinguishers other than it's best to buy one that's rated for all three fire types. Anybody an expert and have any advice?

[Tex1961]

If their throwing Molotov cocktails at your house and you run out to put the fire out, you better make sure and have someone cover your six... Other than that, any common well know brand of ABC should be just fine... Think about having your water hoses close by and ready to go.... If they hit your roof then you may have to bug out.. Again.. Have your cars ready to go, maybe a bug out bag as well....

[Soccerdad1995]

If their throwing Molotov cocktails at your house and you run out to put the fire out, you better make sure and have someone cover your six... Other than that, any common well know brand of ABC should be just fine... Think about having your water hoses close by and ready to go.... If they hit your roof then you may have to bug out.. Again.. Have your cars ready to go, maybe a bug out bag as well....

In that scenario, you will basically be in an active combat zone. Clear the threat before putting the fire out. Otherwise, you will just have a repeated set of fires to extinguish, best case, and that assumes you aren't also being otherwise attacked with firearms, or other weapons.

And as the saying goes, you will have to ask yourself "would I rather be judged by 12, or have me (and my family) carried by 6.

[RoyGBiv]

I was reading through the "November 4th... What are your preparations" topic, and it got me to thinking. Which is seldom a good thing for me to do. But...

It dawns on me, as I look around the house, that my weak link may not be water, food, medicine & first-aid, guns, or ammo. I still had only the "casual homeowner" attitude about fire extinguishers. Three very small residential-sized Kidde extinguishers: garage, kitchen, upstairs. A little grease fire in a pan, I'm good. A molotov cocktail against the front door? A tree on fire in the yard?

Eh... Not so much.

So I'm thinking of upgrading, or more correctly adding two more larger extinguishers. Leave a small one in the kitchen, move the small one in the garage as a 2nd upstairs, and get two new ones for the garage and the utility room...which is off the garage and about 15 feet from the front door, 30 feet from the kitchen.

I don't think I want to bother with anything smaller than 20lb ABC units, and Google shows me some that aren't that badly priced, as in $150ish. I could use something heavier, but I want to make sure my wife can deploy it, so 20lb seems like a good compromise.

But I don't know squat about brands/models of extinguishers other than it's best to buy one that's rated for all three fire types. Anybody an expert and have any advice?

Kidde and First Alert are the name brands for home extinguishers. A 20 pound unit is a LOT of firepower. And HEAVY. That's 20 pounds of powder plus the metal cylinder... total is more like 30 pounds. I have one out back by the grill. I don't think I'd want to be trying to move through my house in the smoke with that big an extinguisher. YMMV.

You can get 10 pound units for $50 or so at Lowes or industrial supply that are easier to manage, or, COSTCO will sell you 2 x 5-pound units for about $55 for the pair. Food for thought. You can get a better feel when you pick one up at the store before buying.

Have you ever used an extinguisher? Trained on one? Be sure to watch a few YT videos. Aim at the top of the fuel, not the top of the flame. Practicing with a powder extinguisher is .... icky... lots of stuff I'd rather not inhale. DAMHIK. Your local FD may offer training using water-filled units. Worth a call.

[Flightmare]

Have you ever used an extinguisher? Trained on one? Be sure to watch a few YT videos. Aim at the top of the fuel, not the top of the flame. Practicing with a powder extinguisher is .... icky... lots of stuff I'd rather not inhale. DAMHIK. Your local FD may offer training using water-filled units. Worth a call.

When I went thru CERT training, we had an electronic one that we all tried on, and then we used the water-filled ones outside. Lots of fun!

[Rafe]

Kidde and First Alert are the name brands for home extinguishers. A 20 pound unit is a LOT of firepower. And HEAVY. That's 20 pounds of powder plus the metal cylinder... total is more like 30 pounds. I have one out back by the grill. I don't think I'd want to be trying to move through my house in the smoke with that big an extinguisher. YMMV.

You can get 10 pound units for $50 or so at Lowes or industrial supply that are easier to manage, or, COSTCO will sell you 2 x 5-pound units for about $55 for the pair. Food for thought. You can get a better feel when you pick one up at the store before buying.

Have you ever used an extinguisher? Trained on one? Be sure to watch a few YT videos. Aim at the top of the fuel, not the top of the flame. Practicing with a powder extinguisher is .... icky... lots of stuff I'd rather not inhale. DAMHIK. Your local FD may offer training using water-filled units. Worth a call.

Thanks for that. Yeah; I did a day a few years ago with our VFD when they offered free training over a holiday weekend for homeowners in their district to come out learn some stuff.

A trip to Lowe's with the dear wife, then, to heft extinguishers. I'd be fine with a 30-40 pound cylinder in one hand, but we need to physically check them. Maybe replace the kitchen unit (that's inside a pantry so doesn't need to be the dinky size that it is) with a 10-pounder, and get a 20 for the garage. That way, if we're both home there wouldn't be a question about who goes where to get an extinguisher; his & hers.

[Rafe]

In that scenario, you will basically be in an active combat zone. Clear the threat before putting the fire out. Otherwise, you will just have a repeated set of fires to extinguish, best case, and that assumes you aren't also being otherwise attacked with firearms, or other weapons.

And as the saying goes, you will have to ask yourself "would I rather be judged by 12, or have me (and my family) carried by 6.

Yep; separate issue. Trust me, if my house is set ablaze as the result of arson on my small cul de sac street, there will no longer be arsonists on my small cul de sac street when I start using the fire extinguisher. I figure it likely wouldn't take more than 30 seconds until they're running for the hills or unable to run anymore at all. Texas Penal Code §9.42(2)(A). You intentionally try to burn my house down with my wife and me in it, you'd better have brought a SEAL team with you as backup.

This is Texas. It ain't Portland, Oregon.

[03Lightningrocks]

[RoyGBiv]

Not recommended for grease fire.

[NotRPB]

Get a Red one.
The Red ones are the most popular so they must be best.

[NotRPB]

Get a Red one.
The Red ones are the most popular so they must be best.

Just kidding

I put out a fire next door in their garbage can with a 2lb and after it emptied the fire restarted and the fire dept arrived and suggested next time I try a garden hose.

So
for my house after LOTS of research, I bought two 5lb ones for bedrooms/hallways and a 10lb one for kitchen area
They're not all alike: CHECK THE RATINGS, HIGHER RATINGS ARE BETTER
Here's the info on what I got.

10lb AMEREX
Model B456
Rating 4A 80BC

5lb Buckeye
Model 5HI SA 40BC
Rating 4A 40BC

(All 3 are Red The 10lb one is almost twice as heavy as the 5lb ones. )

[RoyGBiv]

The alternator in my truck caught fire a while back. Saw the smoke, grabbed the 2lb extinguisher from the cab, popped the hood and sprayed the flaming connector. Fire went out for maybe 30 seconds and started flaming again. Thankfully I was in the front yard, near, but far enough from the house. Ran inside, grabbed the phone and a 5lb extinguisher. Called 911 while I yanked the plug and dumped all of the extinguisher into the socket of the alternator.

Fire was out by the time the FD arrived, but they nearly called an ambulance for me because I was choking on the extinguisher cloud.

Took me a few days to get over it. I should have let it go. That truck was nothing but trouble.

[Rafe]

Get a Red one.
The Red ones are the most popular so they must be best.

Just kidding

I put out a fire next door in their garbage can with a 2lb and after it emptied the fire restarted and the fire dept arrived and suggested next time I try a garden hose.

So
for my house after LOTS of research, I bought two 5lb ones for bedrooms/hallways and a 10lb one for kitchen area
They're not all alike: CHECK THE RATINGS, HIGHER RATINGS ARE BETTER
Here's the info on what I got.

10lb AMEREX
Model B456
Rating 4A 80BC

5lb Buckeye
Model 5HI SA 40BC
Rating 4A 40BC

(All 3 are Red The 10lb one is almost twice as heavy as the 5lb ones. )

"Get a red one." (I'm taking notes...) "The 10lb might be twice as heavy as a 5lb." (Scribble scribble...)

Seriously, though, thanks for the specs on yours. And, dang; I wonder if I just need to retire my little extinguishers. All still show more than halfway in the green for a charge, but if they're not good for much other than putting out candles...

The lovely wife and I are going to Lowe's on Tuesday to do a little weightlifting. I'm thinking we need to check 5-pounders as a complete replacement. Maybe a 5 in the master bedroom and one upstairs in the spare bedroom; a 10 in the kitchen, and a 20 in the garage. Maybe I could just tuck the old ones in between the washer and dryer in the utility room to scare off a mouse if one ever gets in... Dunno. I have one of those 2-pounders in the SUV, too; no room for a larger one. Wife has a small, fuel-efficient sedan and there really isn't room in the trunk to mount even a 2-pounder...at least not room she's willing to give up. And if they can't do much on a engine fire, might not matter.

Thanks for the input. Should have checked into this years ago. If I'd ever had to use one of the little extinguishers for something, I might have been sorely disappointed.

[NotRPB]

2 lb extinguishers are like a 2 shot derringer. 5lb ones are like a 5 shot revolver; they may help you get to a bigger gun/extinguisher in order to get out of trouble.
I patterned/installed mine to get to the next extinguisher so no matter where fire is & people are, everyone should be able to exit by grabbing one then the next one... they empty themselves faster than you think

[The Annoyed Man]

I just try not to catch on fire in the first place.

All kidding aside, I need to up my fire extinguisher game too. I’ve always kept a couple of small ones around for putting out a stove-top or grill fire, but I’m not sure what they’re rated at. Both are small and do t weigh much. (They're red, if that counts. ) Both gauges still showed well into the green the last time I checked them.

I can see a Lowe’s trip in my near future. You guys cost me a lot of money.