Fire safety training..

[blas]

So our supervisor had to go over fire safety training with us last week. Giving us instructions on how to use the fire extinguishers and whatnot...

My thought is....this is a factory where there are tons of combustible and extremely flammable chemicals. Not necessarily in my room, but in others. If something is on fire, I'm getting the hell out. To HELL with the fire extinguishers. I'm getting out and yelling at everyone else to get out as well. A small fire in that factory can easily turn into a huge explosion! I don't want to see anyone try to fight to put out an electrical fire that will soon find its way to another room and cause an explosion. Who gives a shit about the room, GET OUT!

Why aren't we being told to just pull the fire alarms and get the hell out?!

The way I feel these days, I'd rather hide all the fire extinguishers so that place could blow to smitherines. But then again, if one half of the factory was on fire, I'm sure we'd all be told to go to the other side and keep working.

[Gurndigarn]

Why aren't we being told to just pull the fire alarms and get the hell out?!

Quite possibly because BOOM! moves faster than you do...

[crazylegs]

Quite possibly because BOOM! moves faster than you do...

Yer, about 1400 Feet per second so by takling that small bin fire you can stop yourself from redecorating the corner of the US you call home in an interesting new shade called hint of blas87. (Just dont stand direclty over said fire when first operating the extinguisher as all you'll do is cover yourself in embers, takle it from a distance and walk towards it and USE THE WHOLE EXTINGUISHER (i.e. until its empty)

[jb17kx]

And remember: Aim at base of fire.

That phrase stalks me - it jumps out at me every time I look at an extinguisher...

[MystyGlyttyr]

Heh, kind of unrelated, but I remember one day we had it announced that we were going to be having a fire drill and getting tested on our responses and all that jazz. One of the reporters asked the editor a rather amusing question.

"So, do you want us to do this thing the way we're supposed to, or the way we're actually going to?"

[Bagga]

We had a fire extinguisher training session, run by a non Fire Brigade fire officer member of our staff. It finished with him setting light to some papers in a metal waste paper bin, and asking one of us learners to put the fire out.

Fortunately we were doing the session in a large open area with a concrete floor, because the trainee did all the right things. But by aiming the extinguisher at the base of the fire, ie the bottom of the waste paper bin (but outside it), he sent the whole thing spinning and rotating through the air, shedding burning paper with every somersault.

Ho hum, that woulda been very helpful in a real life situation...

[Naaman]

All the fire training I've had over the past couple of years has been "Hit alarm, go to nearest exit. If you're feeling confident use extinguisher but only one."

Everything else is left to the fire marshalls

[Geek King]

Heh. Anyone ever work in a paper mill, or a place that stores a lot of paper? Our fire saftey was basically:

"Get out when the siren goes off. As fast as you can, get out. A fire in here will get hot enough to melt the girders on the celing, and the fire department will only do containment on the flames. They will not come in after you, as the heat in here will fry their suits. Oh, and those doorways where the forks (forklifts) drive? There are automatic trips that will slam steel plates down to close them off in case of fire, wether you're there or not. I suggest you use the regular doors during an evac."

Yeah, only place I've worked where there were fire extiguishers 4' tall and on wheels in addition to the usual sizes. You really don't want one getting out of control in a place like that.

[JustADude]

You really don't want one getting out of control in a place like that.

Unless, you know, you've got this massive-ass bag of marshmallows the size of a Buick... or something like that.

[Geek King]

Unless, you know, you've got this massive-ass bag of marshmallows the size of a Buick... or something like that.

Still, you don't want it out of control for cooking. I was at a (intentional) barn burning, assisted by the local fire depatment, where the firemen came out in full suit and roasted a 20-pound bologna loaf on a giant 2-prong fork.

[Shabo]

But by aiming the extinguisher at the base of the fire, ie the bottom of the waste paper bin (but outside it), he sent the whole thing spinning and rotating through the air, shedding burning paper with every somersault.

Ho hum, that woulda been very helpful in a real life situation...

Bahahahahahaha I'm sorry, was visualizing this in slow motion...

[Broomjockey]

Heh. Anyone ever work in a paper mill, or a place that stores a lot of paper? Our fire saftey was basically:

Visited one for a field trip. They said that if a fire starts, the suppression system kicks in and dumps a couple thousand gallons of water in the place. They said they'd rather loose the week's worth of paper rather than the whole building.

[wolfie]

Clue for the clueless: When a truck driver waiting for the loading to be finished notices and points out to the shipping guy that the extinguisher at the dock has a pressure reading of zero, something needs to be done about it PDQ - it shouldn't still be reading zero a couple weeks later (I was there when the driver mentioned it, and the problem was still there when I looked a couple weeks later).