Where should I look to put a fire extinguisher in my home? Best locations to place your fire extinguisher in your home for ensured safety. With over 25,000 reported injuries in the United States each year...
With over 25,000 reported injuries in the United States each year because of fire, preventing fires from happening in the home continues to be a huge issue among homeowners. Experts advise consumers that most of those 25,000 injuries and 4,000 deaths a year could have been prevented if homeowners were more knowledgeable about how to prevent fires from starting in their home.
Many of the more important tips revolve around the prevention of starting the fire. For example, homeowners should be aware of extensions cords, matches around children and space heaters. But as just as preventive as we can be, accidents are bound to happen. So in these incidents, experts suggest having a fire extinguisher in your home. A fire extinguisher can help reduce the damage and possible injury that comes with a fire.
With over 18 years as a Fire Marshall in Georgetown, Texas, Dan Jansen is an expert in the world of fire safety. During his tenure as a Fire Marshall, Jansen has dealt primarily with fire education, safety and prevention. Jansen said that properly placing fire extinguisher throughout your house could be the difference in controlling a fire before it gets out of hand.
"Fire extinguishers are very important," Jansen said. "Unfortunately, most people buy them, and then they forget about them. They place them underneath a kitchen sink or somewhere out of the way, and they just forget about them"
"As far as the placement, homes are all constructed different," he added. "I wouldn't have it by the kitchen stove. That's the most common place you are going to have a fire in your house. A lot of people place them in the cabinet next to the stove, or they place them above the stove. Well, if your stove is on fire, you are not going to be able to reach the fire extinguisher."
"If you have some passageway that goes into your washroom or your garage, placing a fire extinguisher right outside that door would be a great place," he said. "You could place a fire extinguisher underneath the kitchen sink or in your pantry. You want to make sure your fire extinguisher is always going to be accessible and visible. You need to be able to see it often, and remind yourself of where it is."
Just as placement of the fire extinguisher is important, Jansen said that the number of fire extinguisher you have in your home could help as well. Most times, consumers will put just one fire extinguisher in the kitchen thinking that there is where the fire will start. But having them throughout the house can be beneficial if a blaze starts in a bedroom due to a cigarette.
"The number of fire extinguishers in your home is varied," Jansen said. "Once again, that is going to depend on the size of the home. On the common two-bedroom home, two-bed and one-bath, you would probably need only one fire extinguisher."
"Usually a fire extinguisher of the two pound size, which would be a 1A10BC extinguisher, would be sufficient. You may have a four bedroom home with two levels. For this, you are going to need probably three extinguishers: one for upstairs, one for downstairs, and one for the garage."
"So it kind of varies on the size of your home," he added. "Basically, you would want to make sure you have a relatively small travel distance. I would suggest a traveling distance not exceeding 75 ft to the fire extinguisher. For a multiple level house, you would not want to change levels in looking for a fire extinguisher."
