A fire extinguisher in a private home will be very useful for extinguishing a small fire in the early stages of its ignition. It should be remembered that a fire extinguisher may only be used if extinguishing does not pose a threat to health and life. If a fire occurs – assess the situation and do not endanger yourself, but immediately call the unified emergency call number 112 and call the firefighters!
When purchasing a fire extinguisher, you should pay attention to the fact that its body has an individual or batch number and CE conformity marking. In turn, the extinguishing capacity of the fire extinguisher must be at least 21A 113B (where the number means how big a fire it can extinguish, and the letter indicates the class of fire: A – when burning solids, organic materials, B – when burning liquids, melting solid objects).
When maintaining a fire extinguisher, the homeowner will need to perform a visual inspection (to ensure the extinguisher is not damaged and has an appropriate pressure reading), but technical maintenance must be performed at certified maintenance points in accordance with the deadline specified by the manufacturer or, if no deadline is specified, then once every five years.
In cases where the fire extinguisher is not in a visually restorable condition (for example, it is rusty), but still contains the appropriate pressure, it is necessary to dispose it.