How To Determine The Number of Fire Extinguishers You Need

A lot of people underestimate the need for fire extinguishers in their homes or businesses. For instance, someone might think having one fire extinguisher in a 2-storey household is enough, but that is definitely not the case. You need to stay prepared for any possible moment. To keep you ready, here are some tips to help you know how many fire extinguishers you need.

Look Around

Knowing how many fire extinguishers you need will take some time. You have to take into account everything that your building or home has. For instance, how many rooms there are, how many floors there are, the amount of flammable objects, etc. It is important to take each factor into account before you start getting fire extinguisher servicing, that way you will not waste your money or time.

For Buildings

For the layout and size of a room, you need to follow the rule: there shouldn’t be more than 75 feet of space between the fire extinguishers. This allows each fire extinguisher to be accessible, therefore you are taking every precaution. You can look at the layout of your building and how much square footage there is.

You also have to determine the fire hazard level of your building. For instance, if your building contains a commercial kitchen, light fire hazard, etc., and is public, it must receive an evaluation to get assigned a level. The presence of flammable liquids will also require you to keep more fire extinguishers nearby. For example, a 10B rating fire extinguisher has to be within 50 feet of flammable gas/liquid that is 5 or more gallons. You can find a 10B rating fire extinguisher by contacting good businesses that offer fire extinguisher servicing.

For Homes

If there is one place where anyone should keep a fire extinguisher in their house, it should be the kitchen. Most household fires are started in the kitchen, so it is definitely important to keep one in or very near the kitchen. While you should still have more than one fire extinguisher in your home at all times, the kitchen is the first place you should put one.

The rear and front exits of your home should also have a fire extinguisher. Keeping a fire extinguisher in your home’s main hallways is also a good preventative measure that you can take. Additionally, put a fire extinguisher in your home’s central point, that way it can be accessible from nearly anywhere. For homes that have more than one floor, always keep at least one fire extinguisher on each floor, that way no one has to run down flights of stairs to get the fire extinguisher.

We recommend you get dry chemical fire extinguishers in place of water-based ones. You can use these for small electrical or grease fires and they are more effective to smother out fires. Water-based extinguishers should not be used for electrical or grease-based fires because they can actually create more problems.

It is always better to stay safe than sorry. Keeping the right amount of fire extinguishers in your home could mean the difference between a small clean up to losing your entire home. Stay smart and have the right number of them in your home.

WFX has been on the business of keeping businesses safe since 1978. If you need fire extinguisher servicing, contact us today!