safety in a shtf situation

[medicmark]

Hi all, got to thinking about fire safety in a shtf situation, the fire service may be unavailable or not there at all so what preps do you have?, I have 4 small fire extinguishers but in the above situation you probably cant replace them.......so I have purchased 2 20 litre power washer backpacks for the following reasons, they are powered by me pumping a lever to pressurise it, carry 20 litres of water, portable and cost £28 for the 2 compared to about £ 30 for a 9 litre water extinguisher, which unless you have been trained to reinitialise after use is 1 hit then done.

I do have an outside tap and hose/powerwasher but as said shtf thats not happening. so whats your thoughts.
Mark

[Deeps]

Know where your isolations are (fuse panel and gas main).

If you think of things that you could use to starve a fire of oxygen, like sand if water is in short supply, and if you're using candles then either be very strict about putting them out or use lanterns to give you that extra level of fireproofing.

[medicmark]

reason for purchases are an already unacceptable response time from fire service - 10 mins, long time when its going wrong big time.

[sethorly]

I've got a fire escape hood on my to-buy list, so I can whip it on and drag the kids to safety.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Some water extinguishers some with a Schrader car type valve for repressurising car foot pump or better a road bike track pump will repressurise reasonable pressure 100psi or so will empty a 9l container very well take care not to exceed Max pressure and check internal cylinder wall for corrosion before attempting this) there are several videos on you tube

(Have one for welding )

I also have a ww2 style stirrup pump and buckets....but that needs 3 people to work it.. Got it during last fire strike and kept 5 builders buckets outside the back door

1) to operate the jet
2) to operate the pump
3) to keep charge bucket full by collection of water or other filled buckets


Also a class f extinguisher in the kitchen for chip pan fires and a blanket..

Smoke alarms on all levels

And a escape ladder

[Yorkshire Andy]

One of the best extinguishers I've seen are the new water mist extinguishers that can deal with every class of fire (excl D )

[jansman]

Also,if you are semi detached or terraced,KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS!.I have a dumbass next door who torched her bathroom with unattended candles on the windowsill under curtains ffs! A few weeks later it was an oven left on with food in it and off out for the afternoon!!! Her and him are dumb ,blonde thicko gym- bunnies without an ounce of commonsense between them...but I digress.

Smoke alarms are imperative. I worry more about getting out than fighting the fire,although we have multiple extinguishers on both floors.we also have two escape windows upstairs and a dog that wakes the dead at the sound of any alarm and a whiff of smoke ( when the frying pan is on he stands on the arm of the settee growling at the alarm,waiting for it to go off!)

[ChefSimon]

Know where your isolations are (fuse panel and gas main).

If you think of things that you could use to starve a fire of oxygen, like sand if water is in short supply, and if you're using candles then either be very strict about putting them out or use lanterns to give you that extra level of fireproofing.

I am in the same line as Deeps. I have more things to starve a fire. 2x fire blankets, I also have just outside the back door disguised as a plant pot 2x dry sand buckets for starving a fire if needed.

Jansman: You made me laugh with your digression. I know the type well! (takes them a hour to open a carton of orange juice as it said concentrate...)

Yorkshire Andy: I've never considered a Stirrup pump. I've a couple of waterbutts (2x 200L) plus the obligatory hosepipe (not that I have any garden anymore) could easily use a stirrup pump to move the water about in an emergency. Thanks! new project for later in the year.

My local response time for Fire Brigade is a little over 11 minutes average now as they've just closed a couple of local stations to combine into a 'central' location.

[sniper 55]

To be fair 10 minutes isn't bad really, they have to stop what they are doing, run downstairs, start the vehicles, get through the traffic maybe 3 miles and find the address.

[Britcit]

This thread got me thinking about dealing with a fire, either pre or post shtf.

Have come to the conclusion that we are woefully unprepared! We have a fire blanket in the kitchen, and that's it. Considering that we live in a timber framed house, we could do with a solid plan, and some way of dealing with a fire. Also, our house is quite large with a section of the house separated from the main house by a hallway, toilet and utility room. A fire could start there and be well established before we knew about it.

Thank you medicmark for raising the question.