A elderly gentleman for whom I am a caregiver had a close call last week with some cooking oil which briefly caught fire inside his toaster-oven. (he was frying some chicken in about a half-inch of oil, under the broiler heating element in his electric toaster oven.)
So I suggested that he get a small fire extinguisher, just in case.
He wants me to buy him one, and specified that he wants a CO2 extinguisher-- he says he’s used them & is comfortable with them. I can see why he prefers them; it appears that all the other kinds (except pressurized water) involve variously dangerous chemicals which must then be safely and thoroughly removed from your food-preparation area.
The only problem is, from what I have seen in my researching this, it sounds like CO2 is not a very good idea for extinguishing cooking oil fires. (makes me think of that episode of Mythbusters with the glass of water poured on the grease fires.)
For the kitchen you really don’t want a CO[sub]2[/sub] extinguisher. Those are designed for general combustibles (non self-oxidizing) and can be dangerous to do their tendency to displace oxygen.
Sodium bicarbonate powder is the preferred choice for kitchen fires these days. It’s non-toxic and non-sticky.
I’ve only done fire warden training, and that a while back, but I’ll bite.
Short answer: go see your local fire brigade, and emphasise the restricted space.
Longer answer:
You are entirely correct. A foam extinguisher is the usual choice for oil fires. However, in this case, directing the foam will likely prove difficult, and you don’t want the burning oil splashing back. So you should go for a dry powder extinguisher. If you use a CO2 extinguisher, the oil could well reignite when the CO2 disperses as the CO2 will not be able to sufficiently cool the oil. And using a CO2 extinguisher in confined, ill-ventilated place is not a good idea if you wish to continue breathing.
And you absolutely must not use water on an oil fire.
If the fire were on the cooker instead of inside the oven, you should use a fire blanket.
Him having to clean his oven is far less work than having to clean up the remains of his house.
This may not be factual enough, but my dad always had a big box of Arm&Hammer baking soda in the cabinet next to the stove. The top was cut on three sides so it just sat in the cabinet like that. We were always instructed that if a grease fire were to happen, to grab the box and dump it onto the fire. There was an extinguisher just outside the kitchen for whatever else.
I took that advise with me when I moved out and have always kept a box set up the same way in a cabinet next to the stove. I’ve never had to use it, though.
Okay, good advice, thanks everyone! I’m pretty sure I saw (dry) baking-soda-based extinguishers somewhere. (I’ve been to a lotta websites.) If not, I’ll get the next most likely.
I have worked for a fire and safety supply company for 34 years…
What you are after for kitchen fires is a small BC type dry chemical fire extinguisher. they are available at most hardware stores, and are really not very expensive. The chemical it uses is Sodium Bicarbonate, and is not harmful or dangerous. Here is one from Amazon for $21.00.
CO2 fire extinguishers are much more expensive and difficult to use, and also expensive to maintain and recharge, and they are also not as safe for the user as the dry chemical type.
also CO2 extinguishers are heavy and might be hard to use for elderly.
also grease should be used in a pan that could be covered, in a toaster oven is an unsafe device. any grease frying is also unsafe for elderly (especially in such health to need a caregiver) both for fire and burns when splatter/spilled. a microwave is safer because it turns off and the toaster oven doesn’t.
I was trained on the use of fire extinguishers annually at my old job. CO2 extinguishers are very heavy – a large cast iron case holds only a moderate amount of liquified CO2. They are not as efficient as a dry powder hand held one. See if you local fire department gives a similar demonstration/training course – you’ll put out a dozen fires with a dry chemical extinguisher you can hold in your hand, over a CO2 luggable.
Dry chemical only if it is sodium bicarbonate is my 2 cents. I would buy 2. Use the first one as a training device. Go outside and set a small fire in a container and use the extinguisher to put the fire out. With any extinguisher if held too closse to a fire it can spread the fire by blowing flamming bits around. So make sure he learns how an extinguisher will react.
When I had fire-training at my last hospital job, the instructor was an ex-firefighter, he advised against owning any fire extinguishers. He said he had removed fire extinguishers from family members houses because he didn’t want anyone of them attempting to tackle a fire. His advice was just get out and call the fire brigade.
He said he had seen too many lives lost because someone thought that they could tackle a small fire with a store bought extinguisher.
That’s how we were taught by the fire department at the annual fire extinguisher training at work. They lit gasoline fires in tins, some on top of a metal desk, some in cabinets. Its interesting to learn how a fire, extinguished in an upper cabinet, can be re-lit by the flying flames when the lower one is extinguished. And also to see how heavy the CO2 extinguisher is. Its nice to have the fire department there to answer many things. Also, they ignite the gasoline with a road flare on a 4 ft pole, not by walking up to the pan with a lighter. They know many things that many people don’t keep in mind all the time.
According to fire fighters at our training, you should be using the fire extinguisher to clear a path for your escape, not to fight the fire. But removing them from the house seems to be taking it too far. Certainly, there are risks with using one improperly, but they may be needed to safe oneself as well.
I have one remaining question: How do you know it’s a bicarbonate extinguisher specifically? The one in longhair75’s link doesn’t say anything about being “BC” until nearly the bottom of the page.
From my reading, I was under the impression that the letters A-K designated the type of fire for which they are rated – do the letters also correspond to specific contents?
FWIW, I will probably be buying one at Home Depot.
Is this what I want then?
I don’t think I saw it mentioned yet in this thread: The case in point involved burning oil
in a toaster oven ( :smack: ? ) Has anybody pointed out that compressed DHMO (a.k.a. pressurized water) is also a highly dangerous chemical? Specifically, when used as a fire retardant on an electrical device.
Gotta take care with that nasty DHMO. It’s baddd shittt in so many ways!
I doubt that one is bicorbonate. Read the lable to see if there is a contents listing. If it mentions that can be corrosive then it is not.
one very important instruction
Before using any fire extinguisher make sure that you have a clear path of escape. The fire should be infromt of you and a aclear path behind or beside you. If you have to fight the fire by putting the fire between you and your way out, then let it burn and just get out.