Stove Top Is In Flames! What Do You Do?

[MistWolf]

"Wife! The stove is on fire- Quick, put it out!" My wife gave me a strange look. "The stove is on fire. Move quickly before it spreads!" She stares, frozen on the couch as she tries to figure out what I'm telling her. Suddenly, comprehension dawns and jumps up off the couch and goes to the kitchen. "What do you do first? Hurry, do something!"

"I reach over and turn off the burners." She starts reaching for the knobs.

"Stop! The flames are too hot. You'll burn your arms!"

"Where is the baking soda?", she asks me.

"I don't know. I don't think we have any." She shakes her hands in frustration as panic starts to set in. Then, I see her training start to take over. She's the Head Crew Trainer at McDonald's.

"Where's the fire extinguisher?" She asks. "Where is the fire extinguisher?" Her eyes sweep the kitchen. Finally, they settle on the red canister that's been sitting on the counter for the past year and a half. She grabs it up and aims the nozzle at the stove top and grins. "How'd I do?" she asked. The fire was imaginary. It was a drill, something that took her completely by surprise and something we've never done before. Not bad, considering the circumstances. Not good enough, if it had been a real fire. We both have work to do. Before we started, I had no idea if the extinguisher was still on the counter, or if it had been moved.

On this site, we spend a lot of time discussing issues, tactics and gear for carrying a concealed weapon and for defending our homes. But, as a friend often brings up, rightfully so, during these discussions, is the fact little time is spent discussing fire extinguishers. "How many proponents of CCW have fire extinguishers in their homes? In their vehicles?"

The reality is, the average American is far more likely to face loss of property, life and limb from fire than they are from random violence. I would bet, the general population is poorly equipped and trained to deal with sudden fires. A few years ago, my wife and I were victims of the all too typical kitchen fire when a pot of oil erupted into flames. Luckily, Fawn quickly found some baking powder and extinguished it, but not before there was a significant amount of smoke damage throughout the place, upstairs and downstairs. Looking at the damage later, it was chilling to realize that if Fawn hadn't acted as quickly and decisively as she did, the flames would have spread and burned the building to the ground. We now keep a fire extinguisher in our home.

What brought this up was stumbling across a video in which fire extinguishers are tested by a woman who is not a fire fighter or someone who is well trained or informed about their operation or use. She brings up points I hadn't thought about before.

If the security of our persons and our homes is important, it's even more important to ensure we have the means and the mindset to fight a fire. If you don't have a fire extinguisher, get one. Get at least two, in case the first one runs out. Take time to familiarize yourself with it's operation and how to use it effectively. Learn how to weigh and inspect your extinguishers. Train your children in what to do. If you can arrange it, actually fire off an extinguisher.

Get an extinguisher for your car. If your car catches fire, you may need the extinguisher to get out before getting trapped by the flames.

Here is the video. It raises some good points. I'm no expert on the subject. I ask that those with training and experience, please enlighten us.

Thanks

[jmoore]

I've been searching for quite some time for a reasonably priced extinguisher for my truck. Specifically - one that will tolerate the -20 >>> +140 found in most vehicles. I've seen pics of what a vehicle looks like when an extinguisher lets loose - and I don't want to deal with cleaning up that mess in my two week old vehicle:)
Suggestions?

John

[MistWolf]

I am not an expert and I am discovering I don't know what I don't know. But I have an ABC dry chem extinguisher for the RV. If you have a mess to clean up after using the extinguisher, it means the extinguisher did it's job and the vehicle is salvageable.

But, the most important job a vehicle extinguisher has, is to buy time for the occupants to get out before they get trapped by the flames

[Watrdawg]

Stove top fires are usually grease related. Flour will put it out very quickly. So if you do not have an extinguisher grab a bag of flour and smother it.

[donlapalma]

Luckily I have two of the winner from that video. One in the kitchen and one in the car. I do think some periodic drill or practice is needed though.

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[26 Inf]

I have a long involved story regarding fire extinguisher use while I was on active duty. Bottom line is - on a chemical extinguisher, if it is carried in a vehicle, regardless of what the gauge says, it needs to be regularly replaced. The constant jarring and temperature changes render them useless. I ended up throwing it through the passenger window of the truck in order for us to sprawl across the seat and drive the vehicle out of the fire. Hilarity ensued.

[sevenhelmet]

I keep a fire extinguisher under the sink, in the garage, and in my vehicle. I have had to put out fires twice- once when a liquid-fueled lantern caught fire on a camping trip (thank God nobody was near it), and once as a teenager when my own mother was trying to cook a steak in the oven (why, Mom? We have a grill...) and caught the oven on fire. Surprisingly, the oven was okay once we cleaned it up. Steak, not so much.

I got back from an overnight work trip once to the smell of gas and immediately made my wife and kids go outside. Sure enough, stove was left on low. Ventilated the house, and went straight to home depot and bought a combined gas/CO alarm since my wife apparently has no sense of smell (I am aware that CO has no smell). I regularly rib her about trying to blow up the house, just so she won't forget again.

[firefighter37]

Most of the little fire extinguishers are fine for small incipient fires, but once they have developed, will only end up getting you hurt/killed. If you have a grease fire in a pot/pan, the best thing to do is put the lid on it... Next up would be an adequately sized ABC extinguisher. If all else fails, baking soda/flour, but remember, anything put on it with force, will scatter the grease to possible unaffected areas. Dry Chem (ABC) extinguishers work well, but make sure the one(s) you intend to use are of adequate size. The tiny FirstAlert ones commonly sold at grocery stores will not be enough if other things start to catch.

Superheated gasses and Toxic fumes kill more fire victims than burns.

[Ned Christiansen]

Yell "Opah!"

[TaterTot]

I've been searching for quite some time for a reasonably priced extinguisher for my truck. Specifically - one that will tolerate the -20 >>> +140 found in most vehicles. I've seen pics of what a vehicle looks like when an extinguisher lets loose - and I don't want to deal with cleaning up that mess in my two week old vehicle
Suggestions?

John

We've always had good luck with Kidde brand extinguishers like these for use in vehicles. Any of the smaller ones with plastic valves are a waste of money.

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