fire extinguisher help please!

[1shotwade]

I need to get at least one 5lb ABC fire extinguisher.I've been looking and it seems I'm not up to date on them. I've never seem the "4a:20BC" thing and they are all different so how do I choose a good one at a good price?
Since the weather went south and it would really be hard to get on my roof right now,I want to have one available "just in case "I would have a chimney fire or something.
Help me understand this designation. Thanks

Wade

[Batt]

link to Fire extinguisher rating systems: http://www.brkelectronics.com/faqs/o...-extinguishers

For chimney fires I recommend you have some Chimfex on hand.

[TnAndy]

I've looked at Chimfex before, but never got around to ordering any. Did some more research into it, and finally called the company. They recommend a 5 year shelf life on it, because "it is a pyrotechnic and can absorb moisture over time and fail to ignite".

I gather the stick is like a road flare...you take the cap off, and use it to strike the contents in the end of the tube, which puts off a fire extinguishing smoke. Seems highly recommended by couple of independent sources. Cheapest place I found to buy it is the company itself, $13.50 ea for a case of 8, and $12.50 shipping.

[1shotwade]

Well, I was talking to our local fire chief the other day and he told me the best thing was to have a 5lb abc extinguisher by the stove and if you had a chimney fire or whatever just shoot it into the clean out and the draft would carry it up the chimney and put the fire out. So when I get looking at them they have these numerical ratings but no way to tell which "A" rating you would need for a 12x12x 39' chimney with a creosote fire.
I was just hoping out of all the people on here someone would have that knowledge.

Wade

[Harry Chickpea]

Originally Posted by 1shotwade

Well, I was talking to our local fire chief the other day and he told me the best thing was to have a 5lb abc extinguisher by the stove and if you had a chimney fire or whatever just shoot it into the clean out and the draft would carry it up the chimney and put the fire out. So when I get looking at them they have these numerical ratings but no way to tell which "A" rating you would need for a 12x12x 39' chimney with a creosote fire.
I was just hoping out of all the people on here someone would have that knowledge.

Wade

Depends on the size of the chimney fire. The problem with a chimney fire is that it can easily re-ignite if the temp hasn't dropped enough. 5lbs of baking soda (which is what most are) is probably enough to stop a small or medium one.

Each situation is unique. I had a vertical barrel stove with a firebrick liner. If I was uncomfortable with the heat level, I could just pour in a thin stream of water, create steam and shut 'er down. Do that with cast iron and you would end up with a fire on the floor as the cast iron cracked from the thermal shock, and you would get scalded by the steam.

If you are concerned about a chimney fire, consider having a pail of sand near your stove to dump on the main fire itself and cool any exhaust gasses. Ten seconds doing that first, and THEN using your extinguisher on the chimney itself could make it a lot more effective. Finish out by adding damp sand to the top of the dry sand.

Of course the real answer is to clean out the chimney and flue regularly.