Get. A. Fire Extinguisher.

[@TheJttv]

1. Sweep the base of the fire not the flames. 2. Replace when required. They have a service life between 3 and 12 years. Even if the pressure is good the contents might not be. I like to mark when I bought and when it exprires right on the extinguisher but it should also say when it was made on it. 3. Check if your fire extinguisher was recalled. Kiddie had the largest consumer recall in US history. 40+ million extinguishers were recalled.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Thank you. Pinned.

[@pennykrueger5644]

Concerning item number two. Fire extinguishers need to be turned upside down and given a good bang or two about once a year. This prevents the powder on the inside from settling and becoming a single chunk.

[@ezza88ster]

Fire blanket is a great idea too - recommended by a fireman to me. Cheap too - 7 bucks.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

ezza88ster wow I never thought of that. Good idea, ordered.

[@hankkennedy5330]

excellent advise. An often overlooked thing is the discharge time for dry chem extinguishers. They discharge about one second per pound of dry7 chem! This is a good reason to buy the biggest that you can handle. 2 or 3 extinguishers is a very good idea.

[@CSSIandAssociate]

It is common sense yet so many do not have one or balance the risks. Your insurance company will do anything to get out of paying. Unless you have everything documented forget it. I have about $75,000 worth of tools and still climbing. This does not include the building. Here is one thing that it does not include. Your time it took to purchase said tools and what about the ones that you custom made? Go with the fire extinguisher. My other half works in the ER so do not forget your First Aid Kit. She also was part of the Fire Dept. I am prior military and went to Fire Fighting school. Many people think it only happens to other people. My personally this summer our Ford Ranger caught on fire (my operator error) in the garage with the door closed. I got it out and FD took care of the rest garage is ok I am ok, truck total loss. Sometimes it does happen to you! Keith good job on the Public Safety Announcement.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

Regarding the ranger: yikes. And your note about time...yeah a lot of people don’t think that way. You hear people saying “insurance will cover it.” But that seems to imply that they place very little value on their time. And it definitely implies a misunderstanding of the intent of insurance.

[@marcinwasniowski5477]

First thing i bought to my workshop... but made a educated guess and bought ABF - where F stands for Oil, as i planed to use Lilen Oil at shop, that under some circumstances may self ignite ^_^. Just in case also added florescent sticker where extinguisher is, in case of blackout caused by fire, so i can see it when I get into panic mode... maybe it's silly but safety first.

[@KeithsTestGarage]

silly or not, it's a quick/cheap aid to help stop something catastrophic! Good tip, thanks for sharing!

[@michaelphelan106]

Insurance doesn’t come near replacing everything burned in a fire. Our home burned in 1954 and occasionally I still “look” for something that was burned. A fire extinguisher is cheap piece of mind, it isn’t everything but...

[@MrGeroth]

This is the first thing I did. I have two.