CEO, Firewize
02 Aug, 2022
We believe every home in Australia should have at least one portable fire extinguisher and one fire blanket. So we created a combination pack of a fire extinguisher and fire blanket for your home. For a small investment these devices will help protect you and your home from fire.
Fires are classified according to the type of fuel present and if live electrical equipment is nearby. The classification of a fire is important, as it influences the selection and use of the correct extinguisher required to extinguish a fire. The six classes of fire are:
Firewize provides a premium range of high performance portable fire extinguishers and blankets (below) that have been carefully selected to cover most homes.
The fuel found around a home typically involves combustibles materials (Class A) such as paper, wood, cloth, plastics, etc as well as small quantities of flammable and combustible liquids (Class B) such as solvents and small engine fuel, stored in containers of up to 5 litres and live electrical equipment (Class E).
For this reason, a multi-purpose fire extinguisher with a performance rating of between 2A:20B:E (1.0Kg) and 4A:40B:E (2.5Kg), along with a fire blanket for home use is ideal.
Every week Firewize hosts a free fire extinguisher service clinic. When you arrive for your booking a friendly member of our team will greet you and conduct the service. When we complete the service, we will mark the fire extinguisher service record, completing the service.
Mounting a fire extinguisher in your home is fairly logical, and relates to the fire risks that could occur. According to the Country Fire Authority ("CFA") the most common place in the home where fires start is the kitchen.
Many kitchen fires are caused by cooking that has been left unattended. Others are caused by electrical faults and flammable items like paper towels and curtains that are too close to sources of heat like the stove or toaster. If the cooking area is not kept clean a fire that starts on the stove can very quickly spread to built-up grease and fat around the stove and range hood, with the fire travelling up into the roof and to the rest of the house.
Country Fire Authority, Fires in the Home, (August 30, 2022),
Other common places where fires can start include;
In addition to specific locations where a fire could start, there are also appliances and ignition sources that could cause a fire.
The best location to mount your fire extinguisher at home is somewhere that you can access it in the event of an emergency. The most logical place based on the common locations for a fire in the home is near the kitchen, close enough that it is accessible but not so close that in the event of a fire you cannot access it.
Given that a kitchen is the most common place for a fire, we recommend that at least a fire blanket and one dry-powder portable fire extinguisher be located no closer than 2m away from your kitchen stovetop or oven adjacent to your kitchen.
A home handyman or hobbiest who is tinkering in the home workshop or garage or carries engine fuel, paint, paint thinners or other chemicals should have a portable fire extinguisher nearby. We recommend adjacent to the door so that is readily accessible from outside and close to the point of entry.
Having two or more portable fire extinguishers adjacent in a large home or two storey home may be beneficial. With at least one near the kitchen and the other strategically located at an alternate location (such as a laundry) for easy access in the event of an unplanned fire.
