Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Well, I guess this is a good first post on GIM.

Last night we were canning jam, and because we have a glass top range (inherited from previous homeowner) we can't do the canning on it. I had bought a "Butterfly" kerosene two burner stove, and have been using it for canning this season.

Because of the kerosene fumes, I put the stove on the front porch to do the canning. It's close to the kitchen, so as I'm cooking down the jam on the stove inside, I'm boiling the jars outside on the kerosene stove. I'm going back and forth checking to see if the water outside is boiling yet, and I'm headed out to check when I notice that the entire stove is engulfed in flames and the porch deck and side wood is on fire. Apparently the stove malfunctioned and it quickly became an oh sh1t scenario.

I yell for my wife to dial 911 and I and grabbed a fire extinguisher and started spraying. After it was exhausted the flames were still going, so not wanting the eaves to catch fire I grabbed a towel and basically flipped the burning stove off the porch. Now the flames were really angry, but at least it wasn't directly under the porch ceiling. I ran inside and grabbed the other two fire extinguishers we had in the house and unloaded on the fire. I actually got it put out!!!

We dragged the hose around from the other side of the house and cooled everything off after the flames were out.

I got a nice blistery burn on my arm and a "sunburn" on my face, but other than that and a few charred porch pieces, we still have a house to live it.

Being rural, the fire trucks showed up about 10 minutes later, which would have been WAY too late to save a lot of the house from being on fire.

I'm convinced that because we've adopted a prepper mentality over the last two years and had the foresight to have bought three fire extinguishers for our small ranch home that we made it through this test.

I went and bought three more (bigger size) extinguishers this morning at Lowe's and it was the best $100 I've ever spent!

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Welcome to GIM.

Glad you got it out without major damage. A lot of times we get hung up on prepping for TEOTWAWKI, but those everyday, commonsense preps are really more likely to save your bacon.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

I trust you'll be looking into replacing the stove too.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Yes, looks like we are getting a real stove, a.k.a. 30" propane kitchen range. That too will be money well spent.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

,,,great first post,,,and welcome aboard. Always GOOOOOOd, 2 be prepared,,,

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Welcome to GIM. Glad you were equipped to put the thing out. Glass top ranges are such a mixed blessing. They don't hold mice though! Look on the bright side!

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Any fire extinguishers better than others?

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Damn, I'm glad the house didn't burn down! A good fire extinguisher (or two) is something that I have over looked. I'm going to check some out this weekend. I want the rechargeable type, not those stupid little one's that go bad after a year and have to be thrown out.

Good thing I have an Oxarc nearby :) www.oxarc.com

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Glad it worked out for you....
I use our glass top stove for canning all the time...is there something I don't know about?

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

yeah me too. I havent had a problem...yet...:confused_m:

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

I use mine all the time also for canning, but this is not a glas top insert that sometimes are 120vac compared to 240vac burners and electric oven. Might be the difference?

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Don't glass top stoves get hot enough? Why won't they work? I have a glass top stove and might want to can next year so I am asking.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Good thing you had two extinguishers. Redundancy can save your butt sometimes. My truck caught on fire once, and I had an almost new extinguisher in it with a gauge that was reading "full." The d@mn thing didn't work...at all! Luckily, a short time later a county deputy showed up with a working extinguisher.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

G-Khan

Glass breaks..

Edit:
Canning puts a lot of weight on the stove.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Canners distribute heat onto parts of the stovetop that are not designed for that heat.

Speaking of common sense, operating an open flame under a porch enclosure isn't part of it.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Yes, I agree with you 100%. Wish I had thought it through before...:banghead:

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

They are all primarily the same as far as brands go.
You need some basic education about what type put out what style of fire.
You should also actually use one to extinguish a controlled fire so that you are familiar with operation.
You aim at the base of the fire and sweep the nozzle as you approach the fire (assuming it is going out).
Always place your extinguishers so that that they are logically towards egress. You do not want to have to go towards the fire or away from the egress to get the extinguisher. The idea is that you can grab the extinguisher on your way out.
Also, regularly check your extinguishers and have them recharged as needed.
The powder type ABC extinguishers will pancake into the bottom over time and become useless. You can easily check for this by turning the extinguisher upside down. You should feel the powder pour to the top. If you do not feel anything or it felt like a pancake of powder just flops around then it needs servicing or replacement.
I have been lucky enough to have been "trained" by local FDs on a couple of occasions. I would highly recommend this hands on training but am unsure how one goes about getting individual training.

As far as purchasing extinguishers; the compact ones are convenient but like a gun (i liken guns to extinguishers frequently) capacity is important. The 18" tall ABC extinguishers typically have about an 8 second burst in them. You do not want your extinguisher to run out in the middle of a blaze.

You'd be well advised to have an extinguisher at each means of egress in your house.

Learn what types of fires require which type of extinguisher. Grease and metal fires can be spread and made worse if approached with an ABC extinguisher. Stock the type of extinguisher that best fits that locale's risk profile (such as grease fire extinguisher in the kitchen).

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

I just typed in Google ........ is this info satisfactory?

http://www.hanford.gov/fire/safety/extingrs.htm

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

I've seen maintenance guys with rubber mallets wacking the bottom of the
dry powder extinguishers in the schools. They do this once a year to keep
the powder from packing down.

Must be some regulation requiring it.....

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

That's good info. In fact, I learned that tpye B includes flaming fuels such as grease and gasoline. I use a halon extinguisher in my kitchen. They are compact and very effective for the purpose. It is a toxic gas and I heard rumor they are no longer on the market. I do know that whole building halon systems are being phased out.

I once worked at a major datacenter for a major hospital and the server farm was in a clean room. It was a pretty cool room with under floor HEPA filtration and what-not. The not so cool aspect was the fire suppression system was halon and the doors also locked on alarm. We were clearly instructed to make a dead beeline for the door in the event of alarm as the the doors would lock, the room would be purged of oxygen and filled with halon. The doors locked 10 seconds into the alarm, the room was full of halon within 30 seconds. The data was more important than a couple human lives. That work environment was actually more stressful than the time I worked at BellSouth's nerve center in Brentwood, TN where you had to cross a moat to get in and when working on the backbone you had an armed guard with a gun trained on you at all times. At least there I knew the guard could make a judgement call and/or would be held responsible for a negligent shooting. That halon system was downright scary.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

The dry chemical type can make
one unholy mess..
And it can be a nightmare to clean up after.

That powder can get into almost everything...

Just saying.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

You have a point. The only fire I've actually had to extinguish with a dry chemical extinguisher was a trash can fire in a warehouse. The powder was no issue there. I could see a kitchen being a different story. On the other hand, smoke and fire damage gets all up in everything, makes an unholy mess and cannot be wiped up. An unwanted or uncontrolled fire is about the worst thing to have to deal with.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

The first thing you need to do with a stovetop fire is remove the pot/pan/jar from the source of heat.

Using a fire extinguisher on something that still has a heat source is useless, especially in the case of grease or oil fires.

First, turn off the heat source or remove the flaming object well away from the heat source.

Second, use the fire extinguisher to put out the flame.

It dosen't matter if you bought your fire extinguisher from jesus it's not going to reliably put out a flame fueled by a heat source.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

The fire triangle.

Fuel
Heat
Oxygen

Take one away and no fire.

Coldwater is right that you have to keep one or the other away, though.

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Yep
Not saying they have their place and not having one
it will be worse .

The kind I use are co2 types .
And with the right know how will handle most fires..


JMHO

Re: Never thought I'd need it... but I did
 

Good things to have......I have one at the basement steps, just outside the bedrm door....one on the garage wall just outside the kitchen, couple in the shop, one in each vehicle. ABC/dry powder type. Buy new ones about every 5 years, Sharpie the date on the case. Just for fun, I fire the old ones off, and never had one fail to fly.