Just an idea from years ago.

[Knobhead]

My first house had a very long and narrow kitchen, with the cooker as well as the CU at the remote end. I didn’t like this set up but it was what we were stuck with until the kitchen could be ripped out and redesigned. The company I worked for were virtually giving away BCF fire extinguishers and fire blankets (they cost us just £3-50 each). The easiest place to store/mount them was a cupboard under the stairs near the kitchen door. The wife was happy with the idea, and then came out with “but how do I turn the electric off?” This got me thinking, the fire equipment was to hand but killing the power wasn’t?

This was/is probably against every regulation in the book, it was the 14[SUP]th[/SUP] when I did this. I fitted a P/B at the side of the fire point with two 350Ώ 5W resistors that switched live to earth (one for each of the RCCD’s). Open the cupboard door, press button (power now off), grab fire extinguisher and you’re away. I did also have an emergency light in the kitchen.

It only ever got used once in 20 years, thank god!

Should we have a method to kill household power if needed?

PS if you did have to use an extinguisher the company replaced them for FREE

 

[RexT]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the post and is very interesting. I am glad that you had to use it only once.
The point you mentioned about the extinguisher is incredible. I just wondered how they could do that and still make money?
Is the company still in business?
Best wishes
Rex

 

[Knobhead]

It’s one of the biggest companies in the world, they could afford it.

 

[Marvo]

Should we have a method to kill household power if needed?

Even better a dedicated cupboard or panel somewhere with means of isolation for all services (gas, electric and water) in the same place, maybe within 2 meters of the premises main entrance.

 

[Knobhead]

That would be the “ideal world”.

A bloody good idea!

The repercussions over emergency lighting could be interesting.

 

[ezzzekiel]

Then you have old people teenagers or the generally stupid who in the event of a fire would be looking to isolate the installation instead of escaping

 

[Knobhead]

We can always look to you for the positive view of things :sultan:

 

[Knobhead]

Just going back to the company I worked for, I asked the fire officer about untrained people with an extinguisher and a chip pan fire. He called around to the house in his own time and set fire to a pan in the back garden for the wife to have a go at. OK it had a mixture of petrol and diesel in it instead of cooking oil. Her first (unprepared) attempt was flames everywhere. (Usual trick, fire the extinguisher straight in to the pan). Second attempt once she’d been shown how to float the extinguisher fluid over the fire, SUCSESS!
She was covered in sooty smut marks but as happy as a pig in sh*t! She then wanted a second and third go “just to make sure”. Bloody liar, she was just having fun! She was worse than an 8-year-old kid! Mind you the fire officer and myself were near to wetting ourselves!



I’ve got a fantastic video clip of how not to put out an industrial fire out. I’ve tried to upload it before but failed miserably.