Fire

[bloke]

We are really badly prepared for fire. We have good alarms but, not an extinguisher in the house. Pretty bad since we use an open fire, I do get it cleaned every year without fail but, next week definately buy an extinguisher or two.

[jansman]

Extinguishers are ok but heaven forbid I should have to use it.Knowing how to get out is best.The Fireplan!As a result of this thread we just went over the plan.

Ps my documents(Birth Certs.passports etc.) are in a portable fireproof box.

[diamond lil]

I noticed a burning fumey smell coming from the stove yesterday. OH opened the doors - and a huge flame shot out and right up to the ceiling. Lucky he didnt get his face burned off We had to throw open all windows open and doors and then the bloody smoke alarm started . Turned out the throat was blocked by a big lump of soot and he cleared it when things calmed down . But the mantlepiece is of wood and the flame licked all round it, and theres a huge mirror on the wall above that. So we were lucky. And right in the middle of this I remembered we'd leant one of the kids the fire extinguisher...

[griff9026]

1. You are very, very unlikely to ever have a fire.

2. If you have a fire it will probably be caused by yourself not rioters.

3. Before buying extinguishers and escape ropes BUY A SMOKE DETECTOR or five.

4. Discuss a fire escape plan with every one, what to do and who does it. Get up, pickup slippers and dressing gown, get out, if you cant get out go into front room, open window, yell, wait. etc.

4. Have fire drills just like you do at work. Get people used to getting out with no warning. If you need to for real they will then follow by rote.

5. At three tomorrow morning when everyone is asleep sneak downstairs, turn off the electricity and start yelling FIRE. See what happens.

All excellent advice, one thing i would say if SHTF it is unlikely your house would randomly be torched by rioters. If they were to do so they would probably use some form of accellerant and you would be in trouble fairly quick, bug out like suggested above with practised drills etc.Sleeping downstairs is also a good plan if your expecting Fire. Bedtime routine switching off all electricals and shutting doors to compartment fire and smoke spread and general good sense will prevent most housefires/ dwelling fires.

[luxor]

I know you throw salt or sand on a coal fire when the chimney goes up but that's all

i have not heard of that one lil, i take it it works.
i have read of soaking a blanket and stuffing that up the chimney when it goes up.

[diamond lil]

Less messy to just dump a bag of salt on the fire though Salt kills fire, sugar gets it going.

[nickdutch]

1. You are very, very unlikely to ever have a fire.

2. If you have a fire it will probably be caused by yourself not rioters.

3. Before buying extinguishers and escape ropes BUY A SMOKE DETECTOR or five.

4. Discuss a fire escape plan with every one, what to do and who does it. Get up, pickup slippers and dressing gown, get out, if you cant get out go into front room, open window, yell, wait. etc.

4. Have fire drills just like you do at work. Get people used to getting out with no warning. If you need to for real they will then follow by rote.

5. At three tomorrow morning when everyone is asleep sneak downstairs, turn off the electricity and start yelling FIRE. See what happens.

Our cub scout master did that to us (it was thirty-ish years ago!!!). We didn't know what to say or do, we thought he must be lying, until it dawned on us that this was a lesson in preparedness.

[JohnRio]

Just watching all that rioting and wondering how - or if - you can protect your home against fire? Does this make anybody think twice about bugging in ?

I have a smoke detector, two fireblankets and few of those £15 each mini powder-filled fire extinguishers. Technically they go out of date, but I recently had cause to put out a stubborn, but not life-threatening paper fire, and I found that even though it was 7 years past it's "use by"* it still worked fine. (*legacy from when I lived in a caravan)

I also have an old Russian surplus gasmask that I bought shortly after 9/11, which has proven itself useful both when doing hard dusty work (e.g. de-rusting the inside of a steel hull) and against smoke (aforementioned paper fire).

Further, if rioters are trying to set fire to your home, you would certainly fear for your life and so you would be legally justified in defending yourself, with whatever you had to hand. I would not hesitate to do so.

Dealing out pain and destruction seems to be superfun for scum... receiving it? Not so much. It's educational to watch the videos of the riots and see how the mobs react in response to opposing police depending on the attitude / actions / numbers of police.

Of course police doing their duty are restrained technically in the amount of force they employ. As a householder in genuine fear of your life, seeking to repel a deadly mob, "reasonable force" would have a much wider interpretation and no doubt any jury would regard you with sympathy.

[Ogre]

Since prepping we've added smoke detectors to all rooms except bathroom and bog and have extinguishers in all rooms as well.

[the7ps]

Today I added a sledge hammer to the house. I have a loft and am end of terrace, so, just in case we are upstairs and the stairs are out of action theres no need to cripple myself by jumping through a window, ill just give the neighbours wall a little love tap and go out that way.