Fire Extinguishers Outside The House? Where To Put Them And Why
Normally, most people would never think of fire extinguishers as an outside-the-home product. However, you absolutely should have "outside" fire extinguishers. Here is where you need to place them, and why.
On the House Near a Fire Pit or Burning Barrel
If you have a fire pit, wood can easily crackle, jump, and spark, throwing embers to the ground or into chairs and laps. Burning barrels are used for burning refuse, but they should not be left burning. In both cases, you need a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. Install an extinguisher on an outside wall closest to the fire pit or barrel so that you can reach the extinguisher and douse the flames in time.
In the Garage
Burning garages, burning cars, short-circuited electrical works, garage heaters; all of these are reasons for having a fire extinguisher in the garage. When you buy fire extinguishers for outlying buildings, make sure they are multipurpose so that they can extinguish electrical fires as well as combustibles like wood and grease or gasoline. Put an extra-large one in the garage, and not an itty-bitty kitchen extinguisher. Most garage fires tend to flare up quickly and blaze, so a tiny extinguisher is not going to be enough.
Near the Garden or in the Greenhouse
When plants die in the fall, they leave behind a lot of fodder that easily ignites. It only takes a match or a carelessly-tossed cigarette butt to ignite things in the garden. (In a greenhouse, it is a little more difficult, but that does not mean an arsonist will not try.)
In a greenhouse, install an extinguisher on the outside to grab before entering the greenhouse or to use on the garden outside. If a fire breaks out while you are inside the greenhouse, make sure that you have installed a second extinguisher inside the greenhouse as well. Doing so will save time in retrieving an extinguisher to put out garden and greenhouse fires. If you do not have a greenhouse, find the closest location to the garden to install an extinguisher.
In the Shed
Shed fires are real. You have gas cans and gas-powered yard equipment in there. Ignition does not take much, especially if the shed is not ventilated and plenty of fumes build up inside. Place the extinguisher on the inside of the shed door so that when you open the door and the shed is on fire, the extinguisher is right where you can grab it.
For more information, contact a company like Fire Foe Corp.
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