Comment by mschuster91 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mschuster91 | Hacker News Reader

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> Like workplace safety rules, they are written in the blood of the dead.

Or fire codes.

Related off-topic reminder, in the hope it may save one life one day: please use this comment as a reminder to check upon the status of your smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and fire extinguisher. At the very least every room where people sleep in should have a smoke alarm and every room with a furnace (boiler, oven, kitchen, ...) a smoke and CO alarm. They must not be painted over, and their batteries be regularly replaced.

Each story of a house should have at least one extinguisher rated for classes A and B (solid and liquid combustibles), kitchens additionally a class F extinguisher (DO NOT EVER use a water/foam extinguisher on a fat fire). Fire extinguishers should be inspected by a licensed professional every two years and must not be used again after breaking the seal without a check-over by a licensed professional.

Also, have your building's electrical lines checked at least once a decade and after each major rework if they are up to code, and regularly check appliance cables for damage. Electrical defects account (in Germany) for roughly a third of all fires.

> Fire extinguishers should be inspected by a licensed professional every two years

I (in an affluent US east coast suburb) called my fire dept's non-emergency line to ask about this once a few years ago, and they told me this isn't something they do. So who does it?

Whoever sells extinguishers, I think.

Go to any commercial building and find their fire extinguishers. They'll have a tag on them indicating when they were inspected and who did it. Or look up 'fire extinguisher servicing [your metro area name]' or check with your local commercial occupancy inspectors department.

In Europe there's a service from minimax, one of the biggest fire extinguisher manufacturers. So I guess check up on the manufacturer, fire protection consultants, or any place that sells them.

Yeah, fire departments don't do that here in Germany as well... legal requirement is that the licensed professional has a license according to the norm DIN 14 406 pt. 4. I had a quick google about the situation in the US, turns out there seem to be zero requirements on who does an inspection [1] - utterly mind-boggling.

In your case I'd search for a company that is certified by NICET [2].

[1] https://www.nfpa.org/news-and-research/publications-and-medi...

[2] https://www.nicet.org/certification-programs/electrical-and-...

I cannot actually answer your question: I'd probably call back and if they still don't, I'd ask what to do.

What I can give you is the next best thing: A way to self-check. Most fire extinguishers have both an expiration date and a pressure gauge. You want the pressure to be in the green and the date to be in the future. They usually last 10-12 years with proper care, but you still want to regularly check these things.

My source for this: An inspector, who checked the extinguishers for the pharmacy I worked at back then (was employed or contracted by the pharmacy chain). It has been over 10 years, but it doesn't look like this information is out of date.

Once a year grab your oldest fire extinguisher and least proficient family member and hold a live fire(literally) training exercise.

It helps a bunch in an emergency when you are not preforming a technical operation for the very first time.

I will concede this may be tricky to pull off in a more urban environment, "Yes officer that's the idiot who lit his garbage can on fire in the middle of the street", in which case do without the fire, or make friends with the local fire department and they will let you do it in their parking lot.

Yep that's the plan - I just bought new ones to replace mine and we're gonna do that with the kids.

An independent private company that sells and rent fire extinguishers in your location (or near)

There are small tests recommended each one or two years, but also a more serious test. The bottle will probably need to be tested for an integrity check each five years to see if it can hold the pressure without bursting. Owner can't do this test by the risk of blow and the lack of the machines.

> Fire extinguishers should be inspected by a licensed professional every two years

Really? Do you know _anyone_ who does that? What will the professional do that we don't -- take a look at the charge level, take a look at manufacturer date?

You should call a professional and ask them what else they’d do.

Here's an out there suggestion: See if you have a paintball store near you, call them up, and ask them where they send their air tanks for testing/inspection. Last place I sent my paintball gun air tank to get inspected, they also did fire extinguishers.

Same recommended if you do scuba diving. Check your bottles for corrosion, valves, etc.

Any commercial building I'm in (in Germany) does that. The fire extuingishers have little stickers when the next inspection is due, and seeing that out of date by more than two months or so is a major red flag. Same with fire extinguishers in the hallways of bigger apartment buildings.

For private people it's less common to do that.

> What will the professional do that we don't -- take a look at the charge level, take a look at manufacturer date?

Here in Germany, the checklist is as follows - and government as well as insurances can and do audit companies if that is being followed:

- check for accessibility: is the location of the extinguisher properly marked on maps and does the wall have visible indicators that show where the extinguisher is? Can the extinguisher be reached and grabbed in an emergency or has random clutter accumulated next to it? Are the maps and indicator designs outdated? Are the indicator signs autoflourescent to make them visible even in the case of a fire-caused electrical blackout? Are there enough maps publicly visible that everyone can access one in case of emergency?

- for wall mounts: check if the holder is structurally sound or if someone ripped out half the screws by bumping into it?

- check if the tank itself hasn't expired. A tank usually is certified for ten years.

- inspect the extinguisher visually, look for dents etc. that may have led to corrosion of the tank or damage to the hose/nozzle (and subsequently a rupture risk should it be used). That is a very common occurrence in portable extinguishers that have been used as door stops.

- check if the extinguisher has been used / the seal been broken. If yes, that demands a full replacement of consumable parts (pressurizer agent, extinguisher agent, seals).

- check if the interior of the tank has been damaged by corrosion

- check if the pressurizer agent is not expired (most extinguishers here aren't permanently pressurized, instead they contain a CO2 cartridge) and weigh the cartridge to make sure it hasn't leaked

- check all O-rings and replace if necessary

Thank you! That looks like a great list, but for commercial buildings. For private accessibility\wall mount isn't going to move.

In Austria the local fire departments announce a day where you can check them and in some places they come buy once a year. In our multi unit building the building management does it.

And check your fire exits, if you live in a larger building. Know where the closest one is. Know where an alternative one is. Check they’re not locked or blocked.

Good point. I do the same whenever I'm at a crowded public venue - there have been enough catastrophes by stampedes and people unaware where to safely exit. Being able to actually keep calm in an emergency can and will save your life.

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