House hold fire precautions...

[Yorkshire Andy]

Just wonder if anyone else is on my wave length..

only had one small fire in the workshop whilst welding lifted the mask up to be greeted by a nice flicker of yellow and orange . OOPS should have know better than to weld near the pile of tarps i had piled up


Anyhow i had one little 1kg powder extinguisher unclip it and blast away and out goes the fire... (and then spend 2 hours cleaning the powder up as it got bloody everywhere) but realised it soon became empty and it was only a very small fire think average old school waste paper basket size fire...


Anyhow after that i might have gone a bit OTT..

as we renovated we installed interconnected smoke alarms if one goes off in the house they all go off

eg http://www.safelincs.co.uk/9v-interconn ... rm-ei105c/

http://www.safelincs.co.uk/9v-interconn ... -ei100cnp/

want to add one of these in the kitchen when we decorate

http://www.safelincs.co.uk/9v-heat-alar ... le-ei103c/


was a few years ago now so ok old technology and just battery powered but they work


The workshop had heat and smoke combined detectors built into the intruder alarm so it blasts the main external alarm siren if there is a problem in there and the internal sounder...

http://www.cts-direct.net/texecom-exodu ... 01-texecom

initially i was worried it would be too sensitive but welding by the door doesn't set it off so all is good ( i did buy heat detectors in case but never used them would rather have the faster alarming)



Then got onto extinguishers knowing how quick the little car size ones run out i went to town.....

in the workshop now sits / hangs on the wall 2x 6kg powder, a 2kg CO2, a 6l AFFF foam spray and a 3 litre water hydro spray (replaced a old 9l water jet)

and in the house there is a blanket and special AFFF + additive for chip pan fires

http://www.sdfirealarms.co.uk/fire-prot ... isher.html

a 3l water mist and a 6kg powder on the ground floor and upstairs a 6kg powder and in the attic another
6kg powder

(that in the attic born out of the house of an elderly couple near us been struck by lightning and a small fire been put out by my dad having lugged a bucket of water up through the loft hatch soaking himself in the process when i was a kid )


I know a service engineer and hes told me off the record with the exception of the foam and water that the others will last 10 years the water and foam should be replaced 5 yearly due to the risk of corrosion if the inner liner is compromised .. standard gauge checks and the like been ok that is... and the co2 having the weight checked with fishing scales


Oh and all the upstairs bed rooms are escape type now and main doors into the house have a captive inner key (that caused some arguments with home insurance however)

[Mr R]

Andy,

I don't think that you have gone over the top - you have applied commonsense. I have seen the results of major house fires, on a couple of occasions and I am amazed that anyone got out alive - the dwellings (and contents) were gutted in a relatively short period of time.

You may want to contact your local Fire Brigade regarding the positioning of alarms. This may have been affected by the cuts, but most services used to provide a free review of safety measures that had been put in place.


Mr R

[Yorkshire Andy]

We have an alarm in every room downstairs optical in the living rooms to detect slow smouldering fires from the sofas ect Ionisation type in the hall way to react to quick burining fires eg some idiot putting petrol through the letter box or a kitchen fire (not so close it goes off when you burn the toast) did the whole read the instruction bit and put them close to the center of the room but not too close to the light fitting

Upstairs there is a Ion type on the landing to cover the sleeping area and make it loud enough to hear when sleeping.. due to the amount of insulation i have crammed in under the floors no point in heating a empty void is there but as a result if the alarms go off down stairs you couldn't hear them upstairs at any great volume .. plus one in the attic

[jansman]

I have ABC powder extinguisers,2KG, in the kitchen and on the landing.also one in the workshop. Also a fireblanket in the kitchen. Smoke alarms upstairs and down.

I was told by a technician also, that the powder extinguishers are good for 5 years.

[external]

We had two fire alarms fitted by our local fire station, although given what people have said above its probably not enough.

I looked a good while ago at fire escape ladders and suppose I should again should our main exit route be blocked from the house.
Fire extinguishers though would also be a good idea for sure and I can easily get hold of some via work.

Have people bothered with them in their cars also?

[Yorkshire Andy]

Ive got an auto 1kg unit under the bonnet. A 1kg powder strapped by the drivers seat and a larger 2l afff in the boot