Fire Extinguisher Basics

Why it matters

A fire doubles in size roughly every minute. The extinguisher within reach in the first sixty seconds is worth ten fire trucks arriving in ten minutes. Most workers have never actually discharged one, and the middle of a fire is a bad classroom.

Hazards

• ⚠ Extinguishers buried behind material or locked in trucks
• ⚠ Wrong extinguisher class for the fuel burning
• ⚠ Expired or discharged units nobody checked
• ⚠ Crew members who have never used one
• ⚠ Fires blocking the only exit path

Controls and safe practices

• ✓ Travel distance to an extinguisher: no more than 100 feet, and within 50 feet of every 5 gallons of flammable liquid in use, per 1926.150(c).
• ✓ Know your classes: A for wood and trash, B for liquids and gas, C for electrical. Multi-class ABC covers most site fires.
• ✓ Check the gauge and pin monthly; annual professional inspection.
• ✓ PASS: Pull, Aim at the base, Squeeze, Sweep. Aim at the base of the flames, not the smoke.
• ✓ Fight a fire only when it is small, you have an exit at your back, and someone has called for help.
• ✓ After any use, even partial, the unit gets recharged or replaced.

Crew discussion questions

1. Where are the extinguishers on this site, exactly?
2. Who here has actually discharged an extinguisher before?
3. What fuels are on site today, and do our extinguisher classes match?
4. What is the exit plan from where we are working if a fire starts?

Applicable OSHA standards

29 CFR 1926.150, 29 CFR 1910.157

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