Extinguishers in residential blocks

We’ve had a bit of fuss these last few years over whether or not extinguishers should be available in residential blocks.  The landlord provides foam extinguishers, a resident uses foam, say, on a burning toaster – and gets electrocuted.  Where does that leave the landlord?   Ok then, we’ll put in carbon dioxide extinguishers as well.    Residents may still use the foam extinguishers on electrical fires and still get electrocuted, because they have not been trained to use the extinguishers.  Well let’s put in dry powder extinguishers – yes, they are safe on all types of fire.  Wait a minute though, isn’t there a rider about dry powders in escape routes?   Fire off the powder at full belt and next thing you know you can’t see through the cloud that forms.    The powder is irritant as well, so anyone with breathing difficulties could be badly affected by it.

You could reasonably ask as well, if untrained persons have extinguishers available at all, could this mean they are tempted to stay too close to a fire they are not really able to control?  Oh dear, I reckon the landlord’s in a pickle again if someone’s injured in a fire.

So the advice from Armstrong Fire Management to landlords is not to provide extinguishers in communal routes of residential blocks.   Instead, any tenant who wants an extinguisher and is able to use it correctly should be advised to obtain his/her own extinguisher and/or fire blanket.   (Extinguishers should nevertheless be available in plant rooms, maintenance areas etc., where employed (trained) staff will have them available. )