apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

yes please! PLEASE!

my stressed-out neighbor set our mutual backyard on fire with her cigarette one night, and we put the blaze out with our kitchen fire extinguisher. They really work.

I went out and replaced it threefold (for different locations) the next day.

even if you don't smoke.
even if you don't cook!
even if you never light a candle . . .

(you get the idea)

and let's see if this 2nd comment bumps away that 0 Comments line on the index page

The white might be nicer looking, but a red extinguisher is much easier to spot.

How often must these be replaced? I never know if I have an old dud sitting around and I keep mine for about 5 years. Is that correct? Fire experts, anyone?

I agree with Gwen ... the white is cool, but they're made in red so you can see them when the place is filled with smoke ...

The fire marshall inspects our lab at least once a year and not too long ago he made us get rid of all the smallish fire extinguishers. According to him, their fire smothering capacity is almost nihil, encouraging one to attempt to fight a fire better left to pros. He said that a small one is especially useless in a kitchen fire: he suggested that the old methof of quickly covering a pan on fire with a lid, if safe to do so, works better. I suppose a small one would work well enough for a paper fire in a wastebasket.

I've got a red one, I think it looks fine... I don't know about the white one, it would blend in too much (in my place at least) and therefore not as effective.

We had a small incident (on the terrace) and a couple pots of water did the trick, but an extinguisher is better.

Get one, and you too can be the hero of the neighborhood. Some psycho set our next-door neighbor's garage on fire and, while our other neighbor was running around yelling "call 911!" my husband calmly went into our kitchen, grabbed our fire extinguisher, trotted back over and put it out. It was nothing but some hissing and smoke by the time the fire truck finally rolled in, and he got to spend the next week or so feeling well chuffed.

Still think a safety month -- or week -- would be a great service on the part of AT!

We keep one in the yard too. THANK GOD - since our grill caught on fire last summer and it was (of course) attached to a propane tank.

If a fire extinguisher has been used once a little bit does that mean you should get rid of it, ie, you can't use it again?

While we're at it, renter's insurance is also a good idea. I've had two friends have fires in their apartment buildings, and the insurance came in handy for even getting everything cleaned because of smoke damage.

If you have or plan to get renter insurance they usually encourage having a household fire extinguisher. Remember different types are rated for various types of fires so be sure to check the packaging. Which is not to say they are adequate if you have a major fire.

Serra a lot of them have a pressure gauge on them to check if it is still adequately charged and working. In some areas there are companies that can recharge them, but I haven't found a convenient company that will recharge here in NYC. Once they are used it needs to be refilled, recharged or replaced.

Thanks for posting this. I love it in white. I'd posed a question about stylish safety equipment for small spaces (including first aid) on an open thread on Monday (I sustained a serious steam burn on my arm from a kettle).

I agree we could/should have a safety month. I'd like to see more info and where to store certain safety/emergency items for best use and perhaps info on companies that package kits in a stylish manner.

I have a small extinguisher in my kitchen, and I didn't know until recently that not all extinguishers will take care of all fires. They're labeled A, B, etc., and each letter corresponds to what kind of flammable material you can use it on. Here's a table to show what each letter represents: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_extinguisher#United_States

The one we used on the neighbor's fire (BLAZING, fed by dry leaves - shudder) was smaller than the small Kidde, made by First Alert. It was 10 years old!

The Kidde ones have a pressure gauge, and come in silver, red, white, and maybe black according to their intended usage. I guess it depends on what your space looks like as to whether it shows up -- white is a contrast to my clay tile kitchen floor. Those $20 ones do not get recharged like big industrial ones. Replace it after you use it.

And of course use other methods like smothering where appropriate . . . I for one don't want to spray chemicals on my good pans just 'cause some oil flares
but
don't poo poo the little extinguishers, Francesca - they can save your life and property while waiting on The Pros.

Thankfully, the apartment mgmt. where I live see that all fire extinguishers are replaced and smoke detectors are checked every year.

Yup, safety month is a great idea.

Also curious - those with tiny kitchens, where do you keep your extinguisher? Mine is currently on top of the fridge, but at the new place, the fridge is recessed into the wall.

My landlady, when she bought the house I live in, bought small fire extinguishers for me and the downstairs tenant--I like to think of them as house-warming gifts in reverse.

I'm another one who doesn't know where to store the extinguisher. I have such a tiny kitchen that were a fire to catch on the gas stove, I have a 50/50 chance of having to duck past the flames to get the extinguisher whther I stored it by the fridge or around the corner in the hall. I've stuck it in the hall on the premise that it's more central to the rest of the apartment.

What do you do with an old fire extinguisher - how can they be recycled?

Also, keep in mind that most apt. fires start in the kitchen. So you don't want to keep your emergency kits, quick-exit kits, first-aid, or other important stuff there. (This was a tip given by the Fire department when advising residents of my old apartment building at a tenant's meeting a few years ago.) Keep your important stuff in the hall or by the door - the kitchen is the room you're most likely to need to avoid.

Another tip given by the fire department is that in the large 'non-combustible' (fairly recent) apartment buildings, the best thing to do if the fire is outside of your apartment is 'nothing' (after notifying relevant authorities of the problem, of course). Just staying put can give you a better chance of emerging unscathed, compared to trying to make your way down smoky staircases, burning halls, etc.