Appropriate extinguishers for Social Club kitchens

[John Webb]

Over the last twenty years visiting church parish halls and the like, I have frequently found the extinguisher supplying company has included a 2kg CO₂ extinguisher, as well as a fire blanket, in what are normally quite small kitchens. Having seen the results of using CO₂ extinguishers too close to something burning on a stove, I have never been happy with this arrangement, and have always advised putting the CO₂ outside the kitchen so people are encouraged to use the fire blanket first. (It also makes the CO₂ more available for potential electrical fires in the adjacent hall etc.)

With many buildings now equipped with foam spray extinguishers with much higher Class B ratings than a CO₂ extinguisher, and with much less noise etc in use, is the provision of a CO₂ extinguisher now an outdated concept?

[AnthonyB]

Seeing as a cooker fire would be Class F neither suit. If it's a container under 300mm diameter/3 litres then a fire blanket would suit, although really the best option is to dispense with having both a blanket and extinguishers is to put in either Water Mist/ABF Foam/Wet Chemical

[John Webb]

Antony - thanks. I'm talking about small kitchens with just a stove on which fry-ups and possibly a domestic-sized chip fryer might be used. (Although regarding the latter I always encourage such places to use oven-bake chips as being safer!) I've never come across such a kitchen fitted with a permanent fryer where a Class F system would be appropriate. Hope that clarifies what I'm looking at.

[AnthonyB]

I'm only talking about portables - 1.4L Water Mist, 2l ABF Foam or 2L Wet Chemical. These are intended to take the place of fire blankets for small risks.

[John Webb]

Antony - Interesting! Is there a move to discourage fire blankets as the first means of tackling a cooking-type fire? It's always struck me as being the common-sense way - apply FB, only use extinguisher if fire penetrates the FB; FB prevents the discharge of the extinguisher from blasting the contents of the pan or whatever about the place.

[AnthonyB]

To support sales the FIA still advocate them in their latest guidance for temporary use long enough to get an extinguisher, we are the only country that really uses them on any scale and some, like the Netherlands are positively against them after the infamous tests a few years ago where most (even some of the reputable kitemarked blankets as well as the Chinese fakes) failed.

Why get up close and personal when you can be a couple of metres away? I'd have no problem using one but back when we still did traditional live fire training with blankets on pans there were enough people on the courses who didn't like the prospect.

[lancsfirepro]

John, if you are talking primarily about a pan fire on a stove/hob, then a fire blanket is ideal.  We always install a blanket where there is a hob.
Where there is a fat fryer then provide a wet chemical, either 3 or 6 litre depending on risk size.  A 2 litre is only a few pounds cheaper so its a no brainer to provide at least a 3 litre and note that this would be required to be within 10m of the risk.  (Don't forget that a wet chemical has a class A rating so can be counted in the building cover calculations.)  If there's no fat fryer, then just ensure there is a Class A extinguisher (foam spray preferably as slightly more effective than water spray) in the area for general combustibles - BS5306-8 would say within 30m, but I would be inclined to position a little closer to a kitchen personally; if space is limited in the kitchen then just outside is fine.  You would also need to ensure general electrical risks are covered with a CO2 but as you say, there's often one not too far away anyway.

Where I would disagree with Anthony is with the provision of water mist.  I have a profound dislike of water mist for a few reasons; the discharge range is woefully inadequate and shortens continually as the extinguisher is discharged.  Also, when installing to cover fat fryer risks, there is no prevention of re-ignition unlike with wet chemical.  Finally, and you come across this a lot, is where water mist has been installed to cover electrical risks.  Now without wanting to get into the whole argument on this again, if installing to BS5306-8 then water based extinguishers are not to be installed as cover for electrical risks.  So, if you take away the electrical capability of water mist (its only passed the same tests as water or foam spray anyway) and discount the fat fryer capability due to re-ignition risks then you are left with a water spray extinguisher with a crappy range.

[Fishy]

...With many buildings now equipped with foam spray extinguishers with much higher Class B ratings than a CO₂ extinguisher, and with much less noise etc in use, is the provision of a CO₂ extinguisher now an outdated concept?

In a small kitchen - yes, CO2 is quite unsuitable, for the reasons you describe.