More Than One: Key Places in Your Home Where a Fire Extinguisher Should Be Kept

Posted on: 6 June 2016

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How many fire extinguishers do you have at home? The absolute minimum should be one, although it can be wise to have a few more placed at strategic locations around your home. If you are worried about the aesthetic effect of having bright red fire extinguishers hanging around your home, there are ways to overcome this. A fire extinguisher can be housed in a quick release wire bracket which can then be attached to the interior of a sufficiently strong cupboard door. The extinguisher is hidden, but is still readily accessible. But where should you place these fire extinguishers?

In the Kitchen

This is the most obvious location, and is where your fire extinguisher should be placed if there is only one. More than 50% of all home fires start in the kitchen. You need to have a dry chemical extinguisher (as the majority of home-based extinguishers are), so that it is suitable to put out electrical fires and any fires originating from a gas-based appliance. You might also want to keep a fire blanket in your kitchen. This allows you to quickly and easily smother any small stovetop fires.

In the Bedroom

While you should not attempt to fight any large fires yourself, it might be necessary to subdue the flames to the point where you can escape the room. A working smoke alarm is vital when it comes to waking you up (please ensure that you change the battery as per the manufacturer's instructions), and this should allow you and your family to escape before the fire takes hold. The risk of death in a house fire is actually quadrupled without a working smoke alarm. You might also wish to place fire extinguishers in your children's bedrooms, just so long as they have been taught how to use them. A family evacuation plan is also wise.

In the Garage

There are many flammable materials in the average garage. There might be the gas bottle for your BBQ, petrol for your lawnmower (as well as the petrol in the fuel tanks of your lawnmower and car), as well as a number of solvents. If a fire was to start in your garage, the results can be catastrophic. A fire extinguisher mounted to your garage wall can be a huge weight off your mind.

It can be a case of the more the merrier when it comes to fire extinguishers. Of course, you keep them around and hope that you will never have to use them, but it's vital that they're there.