Is a fire extinguisher legally required to be mounted on a wall in my kitchen?

Our home is now on the market in S.O., and I was informed yesterday that for the required inspections for a C of O we'll need to mount our kitchen fire extinguisher (up till now safely stored in a handy kitchen closet) directly on a wall of the kitchen.

Does anyone know if this is true?

-s.

We have one on the wall

We were told the same thing when we sold our Millburn home earlier this year. Apparently, people mount them to pass inspection, then take them down after the sale.

Note, too, that the required size of the fire extinguisher may have changed. We had to provide a larger one than the one that had been in our kitchen for many years.

Yes, or mounted within 10 feet of the kitchen area. http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/PL05/71_.PDF

Interesting law, I had no idea this was the case.

side issue.... when I took the 30 hour O.S.H.A. and the 2 day, D.O.T. safety courses, both addressed the requirements for fire extinguishers in buildings and on trucks.

Both instructors added, your employees/drivers should be told that the fire extinguishers are for the fire department to use, not for your employees. They should be told that in the presence of a fire, they should leave the fire extinguisher alone. Move away from the fire and call 911.

I believe the same would apply with the fire extinguisher on the kitchen wall.

Doesn't make any sense to me. I have a fire extinguisher in my house right near the kitchen. If there is a fire I will use it to put out the fire if possible. I'm not waiting 10 more minutes for FD.

jerseyjack said:

side issue.... when I took the 30 hour O.S.H.A. and the 2 day, D.O.T. safety courses, both addressed the requirements for fire extinguishers in buildings and on trucks.

Both instructors added, your employees/drivers should be told that the fire extinguishers are for the fire department to use, not for your employees. They should be told that in the presence of a fire, they should leave the fire extinguisher alone. Move away from the fire and call 911.

I believe the same would apply with the fire extinguisher on the kitchen wall.

Our neighbor, a firefighter, told us much the same thing. He advised getting out of the house and calling the fire department, not trying to put out a fire with the kitchen extinguisher.

1) get an offer

2) sell the house by agreeing on a price

3) nail a fire extinguisher into the wall of your otherwise lovely kitchen for a government inspection

4) close

5) buyer removes the ugly thing

On the subject of calling the FD rather than using the designated extinguisher: ours is not at all new, but the indicator arrow is still on the "green" area of the dial. In case of an actual kitchen fire, who's to say that it'll do the job? Are these indicators even reliable?

-s.

I would still call the FD first, probably.

dave said:

1) get an offer

2) sell the house by agreeing on a price

3) nail a fire extinguisher into the wall of your otherwise lovely kitchen for a government inspection

4) close

5) buyer removes the ugly thing

This

In the event of a fire, not matter how small, or ANY emergency, ALWAYS DIAL 911 FIRST

Yup, call (( and if the fire is small and contained quickly use the extinguisher. If it isn't immediately successful, GET OUT.

Three factors are involved with the advise to leave the fire extinguisher alone.

The first is the value of your life vs. value of property.

Secondly, the potential of not knowing how to use the extinguisher and thereby, causing more harm than if you left it alone. Aim at the base of the fire and not at the flames.

Thirdly, the potential of a spread of the fire while you are trying to put it out, thereby trapping you and the extinguisher in the fire.

To answer the original question , it's a state law

fabulouswalls said:

Doesn't make any sense to me. I have a fire extinguisher in my house right near the kitchen. If there is a fire I will use it to put out the fire if possible. I'm not waiting 10 more minutes for FD.

jerseyjack said:

side issue.... when I took the 30 hour O.S.H.A. and the 2 day, D.O.T. safety courses, both addressed the requirements for fire extinguishers in buildings and on trucks.

Both instructors added, your employees/drivers should be told that the fire extinguishers are for the fire department to use, not for your employees. They should be told that in the presence of a fire, they should leave the fire extinguisher alone. Move away from the fire and call 911.

I believe the same would apply with the fire extinguisher on the kitchen wall.

Even if it is only 2-3 minutes and not 10 for a response time that is still long enough for a small grease fire to spread well beyond the stove top.

Also, any small kitchen fire extinguisher you have in your home is worthless compared to what the FD has access to. And I'm not talking about the water and hoses, but the fire extinguishers they carry on the trucks. Plus the FD isn't going to take the chance that your equipment is too old and has lost its charge.

If you have a small grease fire in a frying pan that hasn't yet left the pan, then use the fire extinguisher. If it has left the pan, even just a few drops of burning oil, then evacuate the house and call 911. And obviously if you're unsure if the fire is small enough to handle or are unsure about using an extinguisher, then leave and call 911. It is common sense, but they have to say don't try to put it our yourself because not everyone has common sense, some people try to pick up the pan, or throw water on the fire, or try to put out a fire that is well beyond the capabilities of a small kitchen fire extinguisher. For those reasons they have less liability to just tell you to leave and call the FD.

And I don't care if it is ugly, I have a fire extinguisher mounted in my kitchen. If something flares up seconds matter and I don't want to have to waste time going into cabinets looking for it.

spontaneous said:

Even if it is only 2-3 minutes and not 10 for a response time that is still long enough for a small grease fire to spread well beyond the stove top.

Also, any small kitchen fire extinguisher you have in your home is worthless compared to what the FD has access to. And I'm not talking about the water and hoses, but the fire extinguishers they carry on the trucks. Plus the FD isn't going to take the chance that your equipment is too old and has lost its charge.

If you have a small grease fire in a frying pan that hasn't yet left the pan, then use the fire extinguisher. If it has left the pan, even just a few drops of burning oil, then evacuate the house and call 911. And obviously if you're unsure if the fire is small enough to handle or are unsure about using an extinguisher, then leave and call 911. It is common sense, but they have to say don't try to put it our yourself because not everyone has common sense, some people try to pick up the pan, or throw water on the fire, or try to put out a fire that is well beyond the capabilities of a small kitchen fire extinguisher. For those reasons they have less liability to just tell you to leave and call the FD.

And I don't care if it is ugly, I have a fire extinguisher mounted in my kitchen. If something flares up seconds matter and I don't want to have to waste time going into cabinets looking for it.

Lets be realistic.

It doesn't seem to make sense to require a fire extinguisher and then be told not to use it. For FD use? They don't bring their own?

The FD have large extinguishers, larger than the homeowners, and I'm sure well maintained. They're not going to rely on the possibility that there is an accessible mounted extinguisher and that the extinguisher is up to maintenance.

also, with a pan fire..if you have a fitted lid handy, just drop the lid on it

Thanks, all....

-s.

njleg.state.nj.us/2004/bills/s1500/1294_r2.pdf

I just sold my house and just yesterday went to Home Depot to buy a 2A: 10B:C fire extinguisher. I already had a smaller one that I keep on a counter in easy reach. But now I will have to attach the new one to the wall no more than 5' high. Home Depot has them right as you enter. Perhaps there are a lot of us doing this right now. There was one brand, Kiddie, that was the correct kind - it comes with a mounting bracket, but not the screw or anchors to mount. This goes along with the $75 for the fire department inspection which will happen before closing.

Soda makes a good point. Does the law say anything about the extinguisher having a currently valid inspection sticker? I seem to recall that fire extinguishers need to be inspected each year and charged when needed. Like smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors they have to be replaced when they fail inspection.

joan_crystal said:

Soda makes a good point. Does the law say anything about the extinguisher having a currently valid inspection sticker? I seem to recall that fire extinguishers need to be inspected each year and charged when needed. Like smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors they have to be replaced when they fail inspection.

The yearly inspection is supposed to be done by fire department staff in commercial and industrial settings. $50.00, please.

Our place has not been inspected for over 10 years. At the time of the last inspection, we were running out of an office trailer. The guy came in and said we needed a fire extinguisher by the main entrance door. I asked him, if a fire breaks out, do you expect me to try and put it out or do you think I am going to immediately leave the place and call 911 from my cell phone?

10 years went by and he never came back.

Once a year Bernie took our fire extinguishes to a company that was certified to do the inspections. They would check to make sure each extinguisher was in good operating condition, make repairs or replacements as needed, and affix an inspection ticket with the current date to each extinguisher. The companies we have used over the years have been recommended by the Maplewood Fire Department.

My question was if this is a requirement now for residential properties or if this is simply a good safety precaution.

i guess if its by the door and you can get out, you stand outside and spray in if anyone is trapped..but wouldn't it be better for it to be at the far end...so if someone is trapped inside and can't get to the door, they can run the other way to the extinguisher?

When I sold my house in Maplewood I had called the fire department to get the lowdown on what was what. I was given a typewritten list and, among other things, it said to make sure the fire extinguisher was mounted on the wall, a certain number of feet up from the floor, and within a certain amount of feet from the stove. Since I had a wall mounted fire extinguisher right outside the door leading from the kitchen to the basement, I was told I had to move it to inside the kitchen. I paid a handyman $25 to do that. When the FD came to do the inspection, I proudly told them how I moved the extinguisher to the kitchen. That was when he told me I didn't need to do that, that it was OK where it originally was! He also told me that the FD prefers that you not try to extinguish the fire yourself, that most times it wastes too much time and can cause the fire to spread. He said the FD prefers if you dial 911 and get them to come ASAP. I don't know why I got conflicting information from members of the same department, but I did.

Huh. We redid our kitchen recently and passed all the inspections (and all of the rules, some of which are pointless, such as the one about the max size of a range hood requiring outside ventilation - as though my 100 year old house was even remotely so airtight as for this to be an issue). Fire extinguisher not mounted in the kitchen. There's one on the steps going down to the basement and one under the sink (which are now old and have never been checked).

So people are choosing esthetics over safety. I don't think I will be able to understand that.

Keep an extinguisher where you should. Know how to use it. Have it recharged when appropriate. This is responsible adult life. Mama didn't tell you that you had to do this, but you do.

mine sits on the floor next to the kitchen door, as well as next to my bed and a 3rd one just inside my bedroom door......are those small store bought ones really rechargeable? I thought you just replaced them when they went bad.

I just had a tenant move out of one of my rental units and there were no batteries in the smoke detector. I'm guessing she took them to use in the remote control. Sigh. Sorry, unrelated to fire extinguishers, but some people do the dumbest things.