Danger of Stored Pressure Fire Extinguishers

[CJ06]

Did an incident occur in the late 80's early 90's where a fire extinguisher service engineer was killed by a hand held (powder) stored pressure unit he was re-pressuring?

In the post incident investigation it was identified that he?d serviced a group and had removed all their handles and tubes but did not put the exact ones they'd come out of. Didn't they find the threads were all slightly different (thickness wise) and when pressured up one failed as he stood over it?

I'm sure I remember reading about it in Fire Magazine around the time it occurred, does anyone have any info?

[AnthonyB]

I don't recall this one, would love to know more myself.

I know of serious injuries to a user who operated a 'serviced' cartridge extinguisher that ended up in court around the 80's/90's but not a death under the circumstances you cite.

[FC1]

I was involved in a HEMS job back in the 90's when a guy was seriously injured moving a stored pressure foam extinguisher that had been standing in water in his shed for several years.  The bottom weld failed when the extinguisher caught the door frame as he was taking it outside.  The upper cylinder and head hit him in the jaw and nearly took his head off.  He survived but didn't look pretty!

[JC100]

A couple of years ago a stored pressure water extinguisher failed while a training provider was delivering a course. The failure was contributed to corrosion found on the extinguisher head (the bit the handle is on). When operated, the extinguisher was pressurised and the corroded part failed causing the head to lift off and it hit one of the students in the jaw. The result - fractured jaw and dental work was required.