We have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. I knocked it over, and a yellow cloud emerged from its maw. It’s a Kidd chemical fire extinguisher, and i can look up other details if that’s helpful.
I put on an n95 mask and cleaned up most of the pile of fine yellow dust. I threw out the cat food it contaminated, and washed the cutting boards that live in that corner. I’m about to wash that part of the floor with damp rags to get the rest. And i turned on the house HVAC fan, that pumps all the air through a HEPA filter.
Is there more i should do? Do i need to shower and wash my clothing? (not visibly yellow)
That’s the “need answer fast” part.
The other question is whether i can reuse the fire extinguisher. It says “do not test. This unit must be recharged after every use”. So i assume that theoretically it can be recharged. But is that a thing? How would i find a place to do it? And if not, how can i safely dispose of it?
Oh yeah, it has a little pressure gauge built in that says it needs to be charged, and anyway, most of the contents are now in a bag in my trash can. The choice is between recharging it and replacing it, “keeping it as is” isn’t on the table, unless i can’t figure it how to either recharge it or dispose of it.
That choice is dictated primary by the extinguisher itself, since some of them are single-use and non-rechargable. So you’ll want to look the extinguisher over for labeling indicating one way or the other.
I’ve been to a fire extinguisher factory and confirm the term they use is powder. Same yellow color, similar (possibly even the same household model. It certainly wasn’t treated as hazmart or any more than a nuisance like sawdust or meltwater.
I can also confirm you’ll be dealing with it for some time to come. It really gets everywhere.
According to this source, and others, aside from being irritating if swallowed and dangerous if breathed in in sufficiently large quantities (enough that it coats the inside of your lungs), it shouldn’t be a problem.
That assumes this is a standard ABC fire extinguisher and not something more exotic.
Correcting the botched portion above, the factory I was working in made household ABC extinguishers, the kind available at consumer hardware stores, and likely similar to OP’s ‘bottle.’
Speaking of botched:
Get your shoes on and meet me at the car, kids! Grandma, too! We’re going to Hazmart!
If you don’t have any actual experience using an extinguisher, and since it has to be recharged anyway, you can use the remaining charge to use on an actual fire if you have a safe area to do so. I suggest an outside location
I worked in the fire and safety area for many years. I started out servicing and recharging fire extinguishers. ABC powder not toxic but it is is very unpleasant to breathe or get in your eyes. Here is the detailed MSDS Sheet
After 20+ years of teaching fire extinguishers to both firefighters and the public, the best descriptions I heard of the taste were “pungent,” “distinctive,” and “memorable.” The ammonia part of the monoammonium phosphate is wicked strong and will definitely leave a lasting memory.
On the toxicity side, I agree with the above. Unless you’re getting a snoot full of it, it’s just irritating and not toxic. Do take care to clean it up quickly, though, ABC dry chemical is very corrosive to some metals.
As for the extinguisher: the general rule of thumb is if it has a metal valve and handle, it’s rechargeable. If the valve and handle are plastic, discharge it fully somewhere safe and dispose of the now fully dead extinguisher.
I worked the fire extinguisher side for about six weeks and then moved into the suppression/alarm division. I stayed with the company for forty two years, mostly as an alarm tech
24 years in the fire service, with 12 of them dual-roled in fire prevention. Pulled the ejection seat a little over 6 years ago and landed safely in fire protection engineering.
Twice the pay and 1/10 of the stress. Best decision of my life.
I spent the whole time as a technician in the field. No office politics or sales for me. As soon as I could I recruited someone to do service/install of the Ansul systems and spent the rest of my time installing, programming, servicing and trouble shooting cutting edge fire alarms. It was a great job with a great company.
