Before a fire in a guest room could spread, it was quickly put down with an available, operable fire extinguisher. Sadly some hotels don't keep up with manual inspections and lives are lost. 30-day inspections can be avoided with electronic monitoring. It saves money and time on inspections and gives you 24/7 assurance that your extinguishers are available and working.
Where there's smoke, there's fire. And that was the case at a Houston Hospital. Fortunately the fire was put out with an extinguisher before anyone was hurt. It's a good thing the extinguisher was acccessible and ready to use so that there was no significant damage or worse, loss of life.
This past week I stayed in Miami in a boutique size, big chain hotel. My stay at the hotel was mostly terrific. Helpful and friendly staff, clean rooms and well kept facilities made my stay very pleasant. Even in this well run hotel, however, the fire extinguisher outside my room was empty.
Walking to my room, I noticed the Class ABC dry chemical fire extinguisher on the 9th floor had lost pressure The pressure gauge read empty. There was no visible means to tell when it was last inspected. The fire extinguisher was in a locked cabinet.
I informed the front desk to the problem on both Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th, and yet the inoperable fire extinguisher remained in service through my return to the hotel on the Wednesday the 22nd.
On Wednesday the 22nd, I again informed the front desk and stressed why having no usable fire extinguishers
on the 9th floor was such a bad idea. When I checked on the 23rd, nothing had been done although it was assured it would get fixed.
During both my visits to the hotel there was construction being done on the 9th floor, and the only visible fire extinguisher was the empty, inoperative fire extinguisher close by in the hall. This creates a dangerous workplace situation, as well as a situation where hotel guests are at increased, unnecessary risk.
During my second visit I mentioned this issue to a member of the wait staff while asking who to talk to about this. He said that he was not surprised as there has been “an empty one in the kitchen for months”.
I can’t say how long the fire extinguisher was empty. I can say it showed no signs of vandalism and it may have been inspected to code. It likely just leaked.
I do not know if has been fixed.
Yet again, proof of a structure put at risk due to 30 day fire extinguisher inspections being insufficient.
Here is a video of the 9th floor to give you an idea of the actual situation.
There are building owners and managers in all sectors who neglect 30 day fire extinguisher inspections, To those that do, I say, you’re making a mistake. You need to respect the fire codes and get the inspection job done or start monitoring your fire extinguishers.
Fire extinguishers and fire systems as a whole are not infallible, buildings need layers of fire protection, fire extinguishers are layer #1 in stopping a small fire from becoming a blaze. Fire extinguishers in commercial structures in the United States stop more than 500 fires everyday* That includes an estimated 20 times everyday in hotels.
In what was the third vent fire in the school this year, the dynamic duo of the principal and custodian sprung into action simultaneously with a fire extinguisher to stem the flames while sounding the alarm to get the children to safety outside of the building. This one school is proof enough that it is VITAL that all fire extinguishers must be properly maintained and montitored for presence, pressure and accessibility.
ASBURY, Al. (WAFF) - Children will return to class Friday at a Marshall County school after a fire forced school leaders to close up early Thursday.
The blaze occurred at Asbury Middle School near Albertville. Teachers said it started in the counselors office. A plant was placed too closed to a lamp, and when it overheated it caught fire.
Tracey Wigley is still shaken from what happened Thursday morning at the school, when she and another teacher put out the fire.
Great story and photo demonstrating the value and importance of having operating fire extinguishers at the ready.
