Elementary Fire Fighter Skills – Unit 5 – Portable Fire Extinguishers

This unit only uses one reading resource, The “Fundamentals of Fire Fighting Skills” (third edition). This book and other helpful resources are discussed in more detail on the Orientation Page, while the Fire Fighting Skills Homepage also outlines (with links as we go along) each of the units we will cover if you want more information.

Here is a list of the skills and learning goals for this unit, along with the resource page numbers for each.

Portable Fire Extinguishers:

Various Parts of Pages 198-206:
- Introduction to Portable Fire Extinguishers
- Review the types of fires and their ways of extinguishing
- Learn and Discuss the types of fire extinguisher to go with each type of fire
- Learn how extinguishers are labeled and where they should be placed
- Learn the Basics of Area Classification: Light/Low, Ordinary/Moderate, and Extra/High
Various Parts of Pages 206-209:
- Learn the Basic Extinguishing Agents (Simplified according to age and ability)
  - Water
  - Dry Chemicals
  - CO2
  - Foam
  - Halogenated Agents
  - Dry Powder
  - Wet Chemical
Pages 209-211:
- Learn about the Design of Fire Extinguishers
Pages 216-218, and Skill Drills 8-1 through 8-9:
- Learn How to Use a Fire Extinguisher
  - Pull
  - Aim
  - Squeeze
  - Sweep (generally at the base of the fire)
Pages 225-227:
- Learn about the Proper Care of Portable Fire Extinguishers

Hands-On, Project, and Field Trip Ideas:
- Look for Extinguishers while ‘out and about’ to discuss and photograph.
- Visit a Fire Extinguisher ‘Shop’ that reviews and tests extinguishers, or sells extinguishers.
- Set off a fire extinguisher. One-time-use extinguishers or an extinguisher shop might be be a good resource for this.
- Try other methods of extinguishing, including suffocating with a wet blanket, lidding a pot, and baking soda.
- Continue adding to the Fire Fighter Resource and Training book with a drawing and description of the basic parts of a fire extinguisher, as well as photographs of fire extinguishers found ‘around town.’
- Discuss some of the basics of fire discovery and control panels in buildings, as it relates to what is learned at the fire extinguisher and systems shop. Look for these while ‘out-and-about.’
- Visit the Fire Station to see what kinds of Portable Extinguishers are stored on each apparatus.

So how did it go for us?!

Huge Extinguishers!

This unit didn’t take a lot of time. Some of the information in the Portable Fire Extinguisher Chapter of the FFS book was more detailed than we really needed to try and learn, so (especially compared to the Fire Unit) there weren’t very many days of required reading.

As boring as the subject may seem on paper it was really quite interesting. The review on types of fires and extinguishing methods was good and we learned a quite a few things that make us more observant when we visit stores, shops, restaurants, and public buildings. The field trip to ‘the fire extinguisher place’ was definitely a good choice. Getting to set off a real extinguisher was icing on the cake!

Semiserious Chefs