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Poll: Decorative Fire Extinguishers-Yes or No?

16 years ago

You may have seen these recently.

I'm interested to know what you think of the idea as the comments I'v read elsewhere seem evenly split.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Opinions run between:

1) Disguised, someone might not know what it is in an emergency

2) If it looks cool, people would buy them and keep openly displayed as they should be.

(Apparently these are not yet for sale in the US)

Thanks Jane

Comments (17)

  • 16 years ago

    We had a fire inspection crew come through our home to verify our fire prevention systems and extinguishers and they would only approve traditional red, ugly fire extinguishers. I don't know if that's a local thing or not.

  • 16 years ago

    I started to say no, but I do wish I could find an extinguisher in a white or yellow that I could find easily in a dark closet. I think it should look like a fire extinguisher though and not something else, like those purple and pink ones.

  • 16 years ago

    Well, for a residence, I would hope all living there would know what it was. Here, I think we're supposed to have ours actually hanging on the wall in the kitchen, but maybe that's just for rental units, not sure. I really should look it up.

    I sure don't want to look at a FE hanging on the wall in my tiny kitchen! so I like them. Making it a piece of art wouldn't matter in my place, as far as knowing what or where it was.

    Safety comes first, of course, generally.

  • 16 years ago

    I like them, but then, I keep my FE out next to the sink in the kitchen and near the hearth of our woodstove.

    The one I have in my kitchen is stainless, so it's not as obtrusive as the red one (that I keep in the pantry). But I'd probably nix these as a safety feature.

  • 16 years ago

    My question would be that in one's own house, wouldn't you know what it is because someone in your house bought it? And if it were a guest, wouldn't its appearance and location give a clue as to what it was? The only other thing that it reminds me of is an oversized seltzer bottle, and you could probably put out a residential fire with that too.(I am assuming you would not buy something decorative like this and hide it.)
    I think there is a tendency to treat the entire American public as if they are mildly retarded.

  • 16 years ago

    lol, Pal. Ya gotta wonder, don't you.

  • 16 years ago

    I thought that too palimpsest. There will probably be a warning on it not to use in drinks. lol

  • 16 years ago

    Well when Sunlight(?) Dishwashing liquid came out, there was a hang tag campaign where a small sample appeared on your doorknob or mailbox. The package had pictures of lemons on it, and on the news there was a report that a number of people had shown up in emergency rooms across the region because they had eaten it. Maybe I do expect too much. But then should people who can't recognize a fire extinguisher because it has a pattern on it be allowed near a flame?

  • 16 years ago

    I think they're fab, and depending upon price (and of course, availability), I'd buy one without reservation. I have a couple of the red variety in plain view and ready to "go to work", but I'd much prefer something decorative such as these.

    I agree that we are often treated as though we have a cognitive deficiency. I just returned from Mexico, where not everything has a huge warning label affixed to it, but people seem to learn how (and to teach their children how) to be aware and careful in their surroundings even without a written warning on every little item.

  • 16 years ago

    One reason for advising not to eat dish liquid would be the legal liability disclaimer.

    I also have to say that when the fire alarm goes off in your house, it is soooo loud that it's impossible to hear yourself think or think straight. It's so disorienting and panic-inducing it's ridiculous. Mine calls out to the fire company. So when the fire guys show up they make it even worse -- at least two-fold. Total chaos.

  • 16 years ago

    Warning labels are definitely protection against lawsuits. Agreed they are often silly sounding, but hey, someone actually ATE the dishwashing liquid? Point made, lol.

    The comments I read elsewhere were mostly disagreeing with altering the recognized RED of a fire extinguisher. Sort of like blinging up a STOP sign I suppose :D

    Appreciate the feedback!

  • 16 years ago

    I would buy one too if they were available. I think they're very cool. My husband bought each of our daughters a fire extinguisher as a wedding present. Fire safety has always been taught in our home. I agree that in public places they need to be uniform and easily recognizable but these would be fun for the home. Maybe it would even cause more people to own one.

  • 16 years ago

    Not for me, but I'm sure I'm not "kewl" enough to be in their target market.

    I have a white, wall-mounted fire extinguisher in my kitchen. I got it at Home Depot. It's only about 10" tall and is pretty unobtrusive. I don't have a picture of my current kitchen but here's my previous house's kitchen - the extinguisher is below the microwave. I left that one for the new owners and got another one for this house.

    {{!gwi}}

    There's also a conventional red one by the back door (for any grill incidents, and the back deck is also where the smokers go to indulge; I need to get a mounting bracket for it for better visibility), and currently there's one on the porch where DH is working with an infrared paint remover. When we had a fireplace, a fire extinguisher about the size of a 2-liter soda bottle stayed in the kindling box, and a large one hung in the garage when we had one of those. I've been lucky enough that I've never had a major fire but I've had some little ones over the years (cooking fires, cigarettes, candles) that without a fire extinguisher could have become major fires.

    I want any idjit :-) who happens to be in my house to be able to grab the fire extinguisher without having to think "is this a fire extinguisher or what?" while the fire alarms are screaming and maybe they've been imbibing a bit or are half asleep. IMO a fire extinguisher is such an important piece of safety equipment that I don't really care if it's not beautiful, I would never stash it away in a closet or cabinet - I think it defeats the purpose to have it hidden away where you have to go hunting for it.

    However, white fire extinguishers are becoming widely available, as are residential ones in a brushed stainless finish (I guess to coordinate with those stainless steel kitchen appliances). First Alert makes a silver and black all-purpose extinguisher.

    "The only other thing that it reminds me of is an oversized seltzer bottle, and you could probably put out a residential fire with that too."

    Only if it's burning paper, wood, cloth or similar combustible material. Water spreads both oil/grease and electrical fires (and you can also electrocute yourself by putting water on an electrical fire, since water is a wonderful conductor of electricity). It's most sensible to have A-B-C extinguishers, which put out all three kinds of typical home fires, especially since a class C (electrical) fire can spread to become a class A (combustible materials), or a class A can come into contact with combustible liquids (class B).

  • 16 years ago

    yeah. ok.

  • 16 years ago

    Mari, tell me if this is the correct image of your HD extinguisher?

    *I* think the identifying parts of an extinguisher are the handle and gauge, so now I'm wondering how identifiable the HD white one is?

    {{!gwi}}

    I haven't seen the HD one before and I'm not so sure I would have known what it is.

    Kind of looks like a wall mounted dustbuster type vac :D
    Though it is a sleek looking product.

  • 16 years ago

    I wouldn't know what that thing is either : / and would probably want to pull on the loop to check it out ::: D

  • 16 years ago

    I have small red ones in the bedrooms, and a white one that isn't fancy and looks just like a fire extinguisher in the kitchen beside the stove. I have a larger red one on the floor beside the fireplace (it's obvious that it is there, but it's not in your face!) and a large red one in the garage. We also have small red ones in our vehicles. I got badly burned once, and that is all it takes to be paranoid!!
    Thanks T2G for bringing safety to our attention, and hugs to you too!
    J

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