If all the fantastic safety measures that people have harped on about as being sufficient enough to warrant the removal of the extinguishers should fail or not in fact be sufficient what do you have left? Nothing if you have no extinguisher.
For years now fire extinguishers have been ommitted from the common areas of blocks of Flats
To appreciate why you firstly need to understand the in way blocks of flats are constructed and the passive fire safety built into them.
Can you give me one instance where a block of flats have been totally gutted to the point where it has been rendered permenantly unhabitable?
I think you are liking this to say an office block which doesn't have the same ammount of compartmentation as a block of flats.
At the end of the day extinguishers should only be operated by persons properly trained on how to use them. Its not just about selecting the right extinguisher either.
You have to condition people to be able to realise when a fire is becoming too big for them to handle, to ensure they always maintain an escape route between them and the fire etc.
Small bin fires are a classic scenario I often hear banded about - "people should be allowed to put out something the size of a bin fire"...........Well whats in the bin? an empty aerosol cannister? what is the bin made out of? plastics which give off nasty fumes and smoke?
You can replace property, you can't replace humans. Yes by all means be proactive in terms of life and property protection but lets not get hysterical about this. Fire extinguishers may prevent a small fire turning into a big one, but in real life it isn't always as simple as that and priority is to get out!