This is going to be more of a life pro tip, but trying to reach the largest audience here.
Just had a frantic neighbour knocking at my door saying there is a fire in her oven.
I was over there in under 60 seconds with the fire extinguisher. There was a pot of oil on fire wedged between the element and the rack. No way to quickly and safely remove it, so I blasted it.
If I had tried to remove the pan, it’s likely it would have ended up spilling burning oil everywhere and making the situation much worse. Now they just have a house full of dust to clean.
Will replace our extinguisher today and am considering buying a few more to gift this Christmas.
I don’t think that’s true anymore. It used to be the case in older types that the powder inside would clamp after some time but the new powders don’t do it. You just have to make sure that the gas is still pressurized inside.
Every fire extinguisher we use at my workplace has to be recertified yearly, even the brand spanking new ones
Fire guy doing it has told me that even modern ones still can go bad from just sitting there for a year
I’ve just looked it up and as I’ve said: extinguisher can last up to 20 years and you only have to check the gas pressure and if there is any psychical damage. But I know that in old extinguishers the powder inside could clamp up and proper way to use it was to shake it first. Hasn’t been the case for quite some time now.