From:
Info <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
Subject:
Re: [DCHAS-L] Fire extinguisher use
Date:
Nov 3, 2022 15:31 UTC
Reply-To:
ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
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<CCBA2551-F94C-4182-96DA-7A4AB33332D5**At_Symbol_Here**ilpi.com>
In-Reply-To:
<CH0PR04MB81156983D03CB5BE7E1CAE35B2389**At_Symbol_Here**CH0PR04MB8115.namprd04.prod.outlook.com>
We had a discussion on this back in 2015. See, for example,
http://www.ilpi.com/dchas/2015/20151207g.html and the 2015 index for additional posts:
http://www.ilpi.com/dchas/2015/index.html
If one is thoroughly trained on the safe use of extinguisher (see my writeup here, for example
http://www.ilpi.com//safety/extinguishers.html#Using ), and can make the decision to fight a small lab fire, they can potentially save millions of dollars was well as irreplaceable lab samples/data (which may represent person-years of work). This research lab scenario where the person fighting the fire is likely the most informed person on the situation should be compared to a random fire in, say, a storage closet of a classroom-only building. In the latter case, a random person walking down the hall with no idea what items are involved might be wiser to focus their efforts on evacuation and containment.
Rob Toreki
PS: The ILPI version of the DCHAS archives hasn’t been updated since August when I upgraded my antiquated system software and discovered that the newer version broke my ability to bring posts into the archive while acceptably reproducing the original formatting. I did some work on trying to fix that but I’ve been time-constrained. Should be a good holiday downtime project.
It has come to my attention (anecdotally) that some academic institutions, as a matter of local policy, forbid students to use fire extinguishers. I am thinking more of research, than teaching, labs in this regard. I think this is a wrong-headed policy since some small fires can be easily extinguished using fire extinguishers (usually ABC) that are required to be in labs. Extinguishers are designed for use (using the PASS method) by untrained persons - although I would always argue for hands-on training. I would not favor the policy that requires extinguisher use (as this could lead someone attempting to inappropriately fight a “too large” fire) but forbidding use seems foolish.
I ask the list: 1) How common (do you think) is the policy of forbidding use? and 2) what are the arguments for this “no use” policy?
Dave
David C. Finster
Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry
Wittenberg University
