Welcome back, we have Greensboro Fire
and Life Safety Educator D Shelton here.
Answering your fire safety questions.
This person is asking what type of
fire extinguisher is the best to keep
inside your home and then should you
have more than one inside your home?
Uhm, the layout of the home,
would you know, decide that, but I mean,
it's always good to be prepared.
So having more than one is not a bad thing
necessarily and definitely the ABC type,
which is typically red in color,
because that's going to handle
everything from your ordinary
combustibles to your liquids.
Like if you're having a cooking fire
as well as your electrical appliances,
electrical type fire.
So that kind of covers everything that you
would see in a normal home setting. And
where should the fire extinguisher be?
Because I think that I am
probably like most people.
I think I have stuck it underneath my
kitchen cabinet underneath my sink with
a bunch of other junk that's in there,
and that's probably not where it should
be. That is not where it should be,
because how often do you use your cleaning
products at least every week, right?
So? But how often are you
using your fire extinguisher?
Hopefully not often,
because that would be terrible,
but you tend to put things in front
of it and it gets pushed to the back.
And then when you need it,
it's tough to get to.
The best place to put it
is by an exit if possible,
or if you've got a door that
comes in from your garage.
Maybe hang it out there in the garage
just as you open that door and it's
right there where you can reach
it and it's in a good local area,
but you want it near the exit
because that way if you go for
it and then you turn around and
that fire has grown exponentially,
which it can,
then now you've got time to say.
You know what I'm out.
This is too big for me and you're
at the exit and you don't have
to worry about getting trapped.
Of the fire.
One
more quick thing.
When we are cooking and
there is a fire on the stove,
sometimes people would grab the fire
extinguisher most of the time they're
going to try and grab something else,
or they're going to try and
move the pan off the stove.
What should they
be doing instead?
Do not move the pan if you can
have that lid that fits the pan.
Cover the pan and then turn off the burner.
If you can do that. If you can't do that,
just get out and I'm on one that's
the best bet and still call us.
Even if that has happened.
If you feel like.
Maybe the flames have kind of gotten above.
Maybe the cabinets or whatever,
and you need us to look at that.
Don't be shy to call us in that situation
because we can come out and check it.
We've got tools on the truck,
we have the thermal imaging cameras.
We've got the gas meters.
We can check the home and make sure
it's still safe for you to be in
it. OK, this person says how often
should we refresh our family on the
fire plan in case of an emergency.
And there's a lot of folks
out there who are like,
do we really need a fire plan?
And what is a fire plan? D's
plan you need to do it.
Three months, but realistically try to
do it at least twice a year. I mean,
if you think about in a school setting,
the kids are doing it every month,
they have to, but at home
do it at least twice a year.
Draw out that plan,
make it a tabletop exercise for the family.
It's not that you're necessarily
going to need to go and look at that,
but it helps you to get a visual
and then practice saying OK,
the fires in this room.
So this is the way we're going to go out.
Or it's in this room.
This is the way we're going to go out
and that way it's fresh in your mind,
you're you're.
Doing it,
you know when it if it comes time
to have to use that you're able
to do it much quicker than oh,
Lord, something just happened
and I don't know what to do.
So preparing is your best remedy,
especially if you have like
a two story house.
Your
bedrooms are on the second story.
It's like what happens if
the fire is down like where
the bottom of the stairs are.
Then what do you do?
Absolutely and that's another
thing is you know,
a lot of people they say.
Well, I'm I'm upstairs,
my bedrooms upstairs if the fire
happens in the middle of the night.
OK, well you've got two ways out.
The door or the window?
Well now you're up high.
You can purchase ladders that you
can use to go out the window,
or if anything else while you're dialing
911 at least shelter in that room.
Shut the bedroom door.
You shouldn't be sleeping
with those closed anyway.
Make sure that bedroom door is
shut before you open that window,
'cause if they're both opened
the fires coming to you quick.