Fire extinguishes

[Robotstar5]

When I did the fire marshals course, we were told if the fire is bigger than a waste paper bin, evacuate the building and call the professionals.

 

[Mee]

Again its common sense and knowing what you and your equipment can do, and more importantly, what it cannot do.

 

[WorkshopChris]

Sometimes it not about putting the fire out, but stopping it spreading.
On one occasion a fibre based roof lining in a factory was burning, far to big of a fire edge to try to extinguish.
But with a cherry picker we smashed a fire brake all the way along to stop it spreading, then went back to putting the rest out.

 

[Swift&Bold]

When I did the fire marshals course, we were told if the fire is bigger than a waste paper bin, evacuate the building and call the professionals.

That's the advice we would give.

 

[Kayos]

@Kayos
The powders are a mess to clean up and if you inhale the powder they can clean you out.

I would advise a 3lt foam for soldering work, I guess the pipes are flammable gas free? If working with heat near a flammable gas system have the powders to hand.

It's more something just out of sight catching, can usually put it out with water, prodding it etc but I'd like to be prepared

 

[mpats]

How true, if you just run from a building there is no point in having any fire extinguishers. H&S gone mad again.

Well that's the point in't it, to aid escape, not much good trying to run out the building and discovering the fire has spread or is between you and the exit you have to use. A fire extinguisher would come in really handy right about then!

When I did the fire marshals course, we were told if the fire is bigger than a waste paper bin, evacuate the building and call the professionals.

That's exactly what we've always been told too, and probably the best advise for anyone who isn't trained.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

When I did the fire marshals course, we were told if the fire is bigger than a waste paper bin, evacuate the building and call the professionals.

The bet advice is very simple.

GET OUT.
Stay out.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

How true, if you just run from a building there is no point in having any fire extinguishers. H&S gone mad again.

Wrong.
They are also there to allow the Fire Brigade to have a means of tackling "break outs"

 

[Swift&Bold]

A lot of this is ideal world situation, we all know that if a fire is small enough then the staff are going to have a crack at it and rightly so as long as they have been trained, the Fire Service is stretched enough without "Fire all out" calls to some paper in a bin, common sense tells you when it's dangerous and when to evacuate, chances are that the AFA will actuate anyway and have everyone out.

 

[Robotstar5]

....chances are that the AFA will actuate anyway and have everyone out.

Ours will sound an intermittent alert when triggered to warn folks to be prepared to evacuate, I think it will run for a maximum of 8 minutes before going continuous to evacuate, this gives the internal fire brigade enough time to find the call point and decide if it's genuine or not. The most popular one is a hydrocarbon alarm in the vehicle fuelling booths which is designed to detect spilt fuel, then all fuel is automatically drawn out of the building back to the fuel "farm".

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Ours will sound an intermittent alert when triggered to warn folks to be prepared to evacuate

Phased "Evac" common on lots of big sites and big buildings.
Fun to set up on a panel or a network panel system.

 

[addjunkie]

Well that's the point in't it, to aid escape, not much good trying to run out the building and discovering the fire has spread or is between you and the exit you have to use. A fire extinguisher would come in really handy right about then!



That's exactly what we've always been told too, and probably the best advise for anyone who isn't trained.

Running away if fine, but in some working environments you have no where to run, so have to re group and fight it!

 

[Robotstar5]

Phased "Evac" common on lots of big sites and big buildings.
Fun to set up on a panel or a network panel system.

Yes, you don't want to evacuate best part of a thousand people every time one of the logistics drivers smashes a callpoint off the wall

 

[Mee]

Wrong.
They are also there to allow the Fire Brigade to have a means of tackling "break outs"

Not wrong at all, this is the nimby type attitude which often creates more problems than it solves, so based on that ethos we should evacuate site every time a small fire breaks out instead of tackling it ourselves with suitable equipment, and call the fire brigade, in the meanwhile a small fire has turned into an inferno and potentially engulfed several buildings.

Our directors would love to see such a response and it could save them a small fortune in fire fighter training annually.

 

[Parm]

At my last place we had a big contingent of ex fire brigade people doing FRA and DSEAR Assessments. Thier advice along with that given on many courses I've been too is get out with extinguisher only to be used to aid evacuation

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Not wrong at all, this is the nimby type attitude which often creates more problems than it solves, so based on that ethos we should evacuate site every time a small fire breaks out instead of tackling it ourselves with suitable equipment, and call the fire brigade, in the meanwhile a small fire has turned into an inferno and potentially engulfed several buildings.

Our directors would love to see such a response and it could save them a small fortune in fire fighter training annually.

As a BAFE and FIA fully Accredited and Approved engineer I do know what I am talking about.

A site EVAC procedures is based on more than one thing.

That's why some places have One out all out, others have phased evac.
This is a welding forum, Not Fire and safety.

So unless you can provide with prove you are trained in Fire safety leave it to the ones who are.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

At my last place we had a big contingent of ex fire brigade people doing FRA and DSEAR Assessments. Thier advice along with that given on many courses I've been too is get out with extinguisher only to be used to aid evacuation

That's why I enjoy our conversations in PM and on the phone as e speak in the same terms.

But the brigade like to see cans so they can tackle, or in a big incident they can grab one and tackle break outs.

 

[Swift&Bold]

...But the brigade like to see cans so they can tackle, or in a big incident they can grab one and tackle break outs.

To be fair, my brigade wouldn't allow us to use the fire fighting equipment provided in any premises.
We carry our own extinguishers for that because we can guarantee them to work when we need them, they're tested, checked and charged on a far more regular basis than any certificated ones we'd find in any property.

 

[Robotstar5]

We carry our own extinguishers for that because we can guarantee them to work when we need them, they're tested, checked and charged on a far more regular basis than any certificated ones we'd find in any property.

Have you got any charged with petrol? , I did some training with Oxfordshire brigade and they had a petrol filled extinguisher to re-light the car every time we put it out.

 

[Swift&Bold]

No no no no no!! H&S wouldn't ever allow us to do anything as risky as use real fire to train the public!.....Unless they're behind a 50m cordon and a 6" thick Kevlar screen.