FIRE

[Alexphd1]

Following over from another thread about fire, It got me thinking I do not have any fire prevention or fighting stuff on site. I have mains water but no hose!

I am thinking of adding:-

a hose (need one anyway),

2x fire blankets (stay after build)

5kg C02 extinguisher (stay after build)

6kg powder extinguisher (stay after build)

2x battery smoke alarms ionisation that will be replaced with hard wired alarms later

 

Is this way over kill?

 

[Guest Alphonsox]

7 minutes ago, Alexphd1 said:

Following over from another thread about fire, It got me thinking I do not have any fire prevention or fighting stuff on site. I have mains water but no hose!

I am thinking of adding:-

a hose (need one anyway),

2x fire blankets (stay after build)

5kg C02 extinguisher (stay after build)

6kg powder extinguisher (stay after build)

2x battery smoke alarms ionisation that will be replaced with hard wired alarms later

 

Is this way over kill?

 

 

Not at all  - I got a brace of extinguishers in place as soon as the frame went up, and then another couple once we had trades on site. Like you I figured they would be useful long term.

[Jeremy Harris]

I also had a couple of pressurised water extinguishers in place (regret selling them now, as I could really do with a couple of expired/used pressurised water extinguisher for a project).  I didn't bother with a powder or CO₂ extinguisher, for a couple of reasons.  We had no power (other than extension leads run from an RCBO protected external outlet until well on with the build) so the risk of electrical fire was relatively low (the biggest risk was with the semi-open frame, accumulated flammable rubbish and people smoking, IMHO).

 

Fire blankets aren't really that useful, IMHO, unless there is a specific contained liquid fire risk.  They work best on things like chip pan fires, but are less effective against more open fires.

 

Again, my personal view is that CO₂ isn't that effective in an open area - it tends to disperse quickly unless constrained and so in an open space really only works effectively against pretty small fires.

 

Hooking up a decent sized water tank (maybe a cheap IBC) a few feet above ground and rigging up a gravity fed fire hose may well be the most useful thing to do.  You're not going to get an electrical fire risk until late on in the build, neither are you going to have pools of flammable liquid (I'd hope).  Water will probably deal with 90% of the fire risks, and the more water available the better.

 

My experience of training with extinguishers is that they don't last long - 1000 litres from an IBC will provide a heck of a lot more water.  You can DIY a system like this easily, just raise a cheap IBC up on blocks or a load of pallets, fill it with water, fit a hose the the base and rig up a simple nozzle with a lever ball valve and a short length of copper pipe at the end of the hose.

 

[Alexphd1]

We are on mains so having a hose would be very easy. Bit of topic what's the standard bore for a garden hose?

[Jeremy Harris]

Just now, Alexphd1 said:

We are on mains so having a hose would be very easy. Bit of topic what's the standard bore for a garden hose?

 

About half an inch, but fine for small fires.  A pressurised water extinguisher probably only has a hose bore of around 1/4 to 3/8 inch.  It's more important to be able to get water to the source of a small fire as quickly as possible than to have loads of water available a minute or two later.

[Vijay]

3 hours ago, JSHarris said:

I also had a couple of pressurised water extinguishers in place (regret selling them now, as I could really do with a couple of expired/used pressurised water extinguisher for a project).  I didn't bother with a powder or CO₂ extinguisher, for a couple of reasons.  We had no power (other than extension leads run from an RCBO protected external outlet until well on with the build) so the risk of electrical fire was relatively low (the biggest risk was with the semi-open frame, accumulated flammable rubbish and people smoking, IMHO).

 

 

 

Are you ever in London or Northampton as I can get a few empty ones and maybe some full ones too

[ToughButterCup]

 

13 hours ago, JSHarris said:

[...]

Hooking up a decent sized water tank (maybe a cheap IBC) a few feet above ground and rigging up a gravity fed fire hose may well be the most useful thing to do. 

[...]

just raise a cheap IBC up on blocks or a load of pallets, fill it with water, fit a hose the the base and rig up a simple nozzle with a lever ball valve and a short length of copper pipe at the end of the hose.

 

You've hit a nerve @Alexphd1.....

 

We have a local recycled IBC supplier. 

Lever ball valves - just the thing for old arthritic fingers and shattered hands like mine.

 

Thinking of putting the IBC on top of our shipping container (to give a decent pressure) : will it be able to take the weight of a full 200 litre IBC? 

If I put it on a couple of scaffolding planks to spread the load?

[CC45]

11 hours ago, Vijay said:

Are you ever in London or Northampton as I can get a few empty ones and maybe some full ones too

Try asking a local dairy farmer - a lot of the liquids they use come in IBC's now - stay away from the cleaning ones, ask if they have any teat spray (iodine) ones.

[Jeremy Harris]

22 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

Thinking of putting the IBC on top of our shipping container (to give a decent pressure) : will it be able to take the weight of a full 200 litre IBC? 

If I put it on a couple of scaffolding planks to spread the load?

 

 

Should be fine, it's only a tonne when filled.  Perhaps put some planks under it to spread the load a bit, but probably not needed.

[DavidFrancis]

According to the government's latest fire statistics, about half of all dwelling fires start in kitchens, so if you're thinking about where to place an extinguisher then in or near the kitchen would be good. 

 

May be of interest to Lizzie: smoke alarms failed to operate (or failed to raise the alarm - not sure of the distinction) in about 30% of dwelling fires, but only 20% of mains-powered alarms failed, whereas 40% of battery-powered ones failed (mostly because the battery was either missing or defective).

 

See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/650926/detailed-analysis-fires-attended-fire-rescue-england-hosb1617.pdf

 

About 8% of fire fatalities come from candle fires and 35% from "smokers materials", so if you use neither your chances of dying in a fire are much improved!

[curlewhouse]

Always amazes me when you see fires where there were smoke alarms fitted but no batteries in them - unforgiveable. I've noticed that this mostly seems to happen in rented properties for some reason. Naturally we have had to fit a mains system being a new build (already bought and waiting to be fitted), but for during the build I have put battery ones in place in the house as soon as the SIPs was up. Since initially we were alongside in a caravan I found when testing that we could hear the alarms too and being in a rural area its otherwise utterly silent at night apart from the owls and the odd sheep.  Given how cheap alarms are now, I can never understand anyone not having plenty of them. Fire extinguishers on the other hand are not really that cheap for decent sized ones so quick access to a hose is indeed useful.  Our nearest fire station is a retained one 11 miles away so it definitely is wise to be prepared ourselves as help isnt coming very quickly.

 

 

[lizzie]

My alarms are mains......hopefully electrician will be in touch tomorrow and we will get to the bottom of why they did not work.  Meantime have bought some battery ones to cover us until we find out what the problem is/was with mains linked ones.  TBH I think I will keep the battery ones operational too and get them put up in the individual bedrooms (we only have a mains one in corridor to cover bedrooms).

 

Fire extinguishers and fire blankets purchased and I hope to get some guidance from local fireman on how to use.  I sincerely hope I never have to use!!

 

I am very lucky being single storey and my garden hose was just outside the slider so it was very quick to get it in and on once the electrics were off.  Water everywhere, good job I have tiles not wood or carpets.........I have 6 bar of pressure and I had the hose full on!

 

I am now researching which plugs to pull out of the sockets and which can be safely left in.......turning into my Mother who used to unplug everything before she went to bed.  Can't do that in our new airtight house though.....mvhr, ufh, boiler, the list goes on.  I was amazed today at just how hot the TV got - def taking those plugs out when I go on hols or maybe even just to bed.

 

My dear OH has bought me a new hairdryer and that definitely will not be left plugged in!

[vivienz]

I know it was an awful experience for you Lizzie, but thank you so much for posting about it. I hadn't given a great deal of thought to it, but now the smoke alarm system is high on my to-plan list. I've also started unplugging my hairdryer and straighteners at home, something I have never done previously. There but for the grace of god, and all that.

I've also discovered that we have 2 powder extinguishers in the garage, according to OH, so I will do all the necessary there and put them somewhere more accessible.

Thanks again for the post.

[Jeremy Harris]

1 hour ago, lizzie said:

My alarms are mains......hopefully electrician will be in touch tomorrow and we will get to the bottom of why they did not work.  Meantime have bought some battery ones to cover us until we find out what the problem is/was with mains linked ones.  TBH I think I will keep the battery ones operational too and get them put up in the individual bedrooms (we only have a mains one in corridor to cover bedrooms).

 

Fire extinguishers and fire blankets purchased and I hope to get some guidance from local fireman on how to use.  I sincerely hope I never have to use!!

 

I am very lucky being single storey and my garden hose was just outside the slider so it was very quick to get it in and on once the electrics were off.  Water everywhere, good job I have tiles not wood or carpets.........I have 6 bar of pressure and I had the hose full on!

 

I am now researching which plugs to pull out of the sockets and which can be safely left in.......turning into my Mother who used to unplug everything before she went to bed.  Can't do that in our new airtight house though.....mvhr, ufh, boiler, the list goes on.  I was amazed today at just how hot the TV got - def taking those plugs out when I go on hols or maybe even just to bed.

 

My dear OH has bought me a new hairdryer and that definitely will not be left plugged in!

 

Might be worth investing in something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Smoke-Sabre-smoke-detector-aerosol/dp/B005GUM5EI to test that your smoke alarms are working OK.  It won't test a rate of heat increase alarm, like the ones fitted to kitchens, but should test the other types of smoke detector reliably.  At least you'd then have some peace of mind that the things were really working OK.

[lizzie]

Thank you @JSHarris I have ordered one. Really appreciate the link.