The local Fire Department was conducting an annual inspection of businesses in the city. As a result they sent a laundry a notice of failure to display a fire extinguisher available to the public. The laundry owner called them to ask when they would be there for the re-inspection. “I’ll hang the thing up, but it won’t last out the day. It will be stolen.”

He explained to the fire official that the ideal of customers using an extinguisher to fight a laundry fire doesn’t work out. Someone yells fire and people grab their stuff and flee outside. Sometimes they don’t even call a fire in to the fire department.

Instead, extinguishers are stolen off of the wall, and either taken home or used to foam the place up.

They worked out a deal so the laundry would place the extinguisher in the back room and put up a sign reading “extinguisher inside” next to the door. In the ten years that little laundry remained open, they never lost another fire extinguisher.

Since all fire officials are not that understanding, it may be a requirement in your city to have an extinguisher displayed. If yours is an unattended place, you will likely lose one or more to a thief or vandal. Yes, it is all a part of the cost for doing business, but the removal of something you’ve paid good money for is, to say the least, a pain in the posterior.

There are ways that work well to place an extinguisher in plain sight and hiding it at the same time. There are boxes specifically made to hold a fire extinguisher, They are three sides metal and one side glass which is to be broken to get at the extinguisher. Paint it the same color as the wall, including the glass side. and it is less noticeable to a would be thief.

According to most laundry owners who have tried this, it really does work. Extinguishers stay in place, some times for years, and are never brought down except to have them recharged.

All laundries should have one or more fire extinguishers on site to defend their places of business from a fire. Operators who have attendants should train them in the use of one to extinguish a fire. The cost is very little in relation to the physical damages to a laundry their use can prevent. Not having them on hand is really dumb.

What kind should we buy, and where do we buy them? There are four types of fire extinguishers available. They are A,B,C, plus a combined ABC, which is the recommended type for most laundry businesses. These units can be found in most building supply and hardware stores. They range in price from $15 - $40. The price is so low that no business can afford to be without one or more.

Some extinguisher units are built and sold with fabricated steel tanks to contain the retardant content. Others are made with plastic tanks. These are lighter and much cheaper to make. By law, extinguishers manufactured with plastic tanks can not be refilled. Ones with metal tanks can be.

Most fire codes require that the extinguisher units be recertified every two years. The typical fee for that service amounts to about $15 per unit, per year.

Servicing companies work on a basis that coincides with the inspection schedule of local fire inspectors. They certify each extinguisher and the certification is good for two years.