Remembering Fire Extinguishers: Be Sure to Keep One Handy

Laundry owners often feel that having a fire extinguisher is a pain, because it is so hard to keep them from being stolen from unattended laundries. Having and keeping extinguishers is a necessary cost of doing business. If they are stolen, the overall loss to a laundry operator is so small when one compares that to the huge potential costs for not having one on hand to use when needed.

Attended laundries have less of a problem with theft because most extinguishers remain in the laundry’s office, which is fine only as long as the attendant is present.

To satisfy requirements of the local fire code, operators should post a sign on the office reading “Extinguisher Inside”.

Unattended laundry owners complain about having extinguishers stolen. To meet code, they have to be available in case of fire. That seems to be too much temptation for thieves. A fire extinguisher is something everyone can use, especially if it’s free for the taking.

One way to slow down theft is to mount them in a metal box with a glass cover, mounted on the wall. Paint the glass so that the box contents can’t be seen without breaking the glass.

If thieves can’t see what is in the box, they have to break the glass to find out if a fire extinguisher is really there. Breaking glass will make a mess and some noise. In that case thieves will likely leave that fire extinguisher alone.

Sure fire extinguishers will occasionally be stolen, but the cost of that loss is minuscule when compared to what not having one on hand can mean when a real fire breaks out in your coin or card op laundry.

What type of fire extinguisher is best?

There are special use units that are for special types of problems. They are categorized by types A, B and C. Type A is for use on trash, wood, paper, etc. Type B is for use on grease, liquid and chemical fires. Type C is the one for use on electrical fires.

There is also a combined ABC type fire extinguisher for general use in home or office. This ABC unit is generally easiest to find and buy locally. That’s good since it is the unit usually recommended you keep on hand in your laundry.

Units can be found in most all building supply and hardware stores. They range in price from $15 - $40. That is a price so low that no business can afford to be without one.

Extinguishers with plastic tanks can’t be refilled. Ones with metal tanks can be. Most fire codes require that the units be certified every two years. The typical fee for that service is $15. Companies that do service of that type are widely spread and work on a basis that coincides pretty much with the schedule of local fire inspectors in the area.

The cost for maintaining extinguishers properly and having them on hand is pretty low. The units are inexpensive to buy. The overwhelming risk of not having the protection available is plain to see.

Protect your business; keep adequate fire extinguishers on hand at all times.

 

---