What fire precautions do you have in your work/home workshop?

I have 2 abc fire extinguishers (powder I think) at opposite ends of my workroom

good topic!
I've got jack squat!

I think I'll run out and get a couple extinguishers

liabilty insurance

Just move this back into New Post list.

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I can't believe so few have a fire blanket....maybe they keep a wet rag handy at all times instead? Extinguishers are expensive and depending on the type they can be messy, a fire blanket is a good cheap investment regardless what other precautions you have.

I hope the majority who have said they have a water/foam/dry powder/CO2 extinguisher didnt waste their money on a water extinguisher! They're not much use, at least have a foam instead of water, but ideally 1 x CO2 (5kg), 1 x Dry Powder (9kg), and if necessary a Class 'D'. Plus a fire blanket and a smoke alarm (Turn it off during the day if you have to but have it there at night). Dry Powder is the 'catch all', it can be used on nearly every type of fire.

As regards having none....well....hopefully your thousands of euro worth of equipment will never be lost because you didn't have a €100 extinguisher handy! ;)

As a guideline workplace legal reg's (Ireland) are an extinguisher within 30m of any point, so (depending on the size of your workshop) one fire point will prob be enough.

Please dont forget to spend a few minutes hanging them on the wall using the hooks provided (Pet Hate!) :)

Why has this poll had 90 views but only 15 submissions? Its Anonomous!!

Why has this poll had 90 views but only 15 submissions? Its Anonomous!!

Okay just to stop you complaining; I voted for extinguishers. CO2 in the CNC machine area, dry powder in other locations. All inspected and serviced/replaced on at least a yearly basis and located so that when the local fire department does their annual inspection they are happy. Also smoke detectors throughout the building tied into the alarm system which has 24 hour monitoring. Oily rags, oil absorbant material and other potentially spontaneously combustible material goes out to the big bin on a daily basis. I'm sorry I don't have any fire blankets or class D extinguishers but after all nobody is perfect.

lol....Geof....Your Great! ;) Seriously though, this was my first poll post and don't see why people cant just vote. :violin:

Im more curious to see how many hobbyists/home workshops have precautions. Obviously, from a workplace setup you'd expect legal requirements to be complied with. :rolleyes:

What other people do as a their safety measure shouldn’t really be a decision helper for you.

Other people might just be lucky. So personally I wouldn't care what precautions someone else takes. It’s all about how comfortable I feel about the precautions I've taken.

Some people feel comfortable with a garden hose, some with a glass of water and some people wont do anything without the fire department on their way their. And of course before I was doing well I probably would have been using gas cans for my fire safety measure as I was probably worth way more on paper than in reality. :D

Which brings me to my question: why do you care?

Which brings me to my question: why do you care?

I have worked in this area and its just my general curiosity wondering what equipment if any people have, and how many have specific types. Obviously if people have nothing at all thats up to them. Just curious. :D

My above post was just a friendly suggestion that may point someone in the right direction. My personal opinions on what precautions people should take are just that, and there are significant differences between fire prevention measures and fire control measures. Fire fighting eqpt carries its own risks if not stored and used correctly, so maybe some people are better off without it anyway! :)

Or maybe some people feel their prevention is of such a high standard that they dont need to splash out on fire fighting eqpt? I dont know, thats why I asked. :D

Just a topic I was wondering about. :)

I have 2 small ABC extinguishers under the kitchen cabinet (home depot, $29 or something like that). When I'm doing thything in the shop that could present a fire hazard I bring one downstairs with me.

Does anyone have any stories to scare us into getting fire safety equipment? (I have 2 powder extinguishers) no fire blanket and no class d extinguisher. Would this be overkill for my ~25ft by ~10ft workroom? I guess it depends on the type of equipment you use too...

..... And of course before I was doing well I probably would have been using gas cans for my fire safety measure as I was probably worth way more on paper than in reality. :D

This is a good point, maybe somewhat flippantly stated. The motivation behind most of my precautions is that the local fire department requires them. The motivation behind the smoke detector and building alarm is that I have a lot of real value not paper value sitting in that building.

I did forget to mention one precaution I take as a fire prevention measure; DO NOT OVERLOAD ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS. Take note of how often electrical faults are given as the reason for fires. Where I live there have been a couple of 'electrical fires' at businesses that were rapidly expanding; my speculation is that people just keep adding load without adding capacity. Not to mention the twice weekly fires from Pot Grow-Ops where they jumper the meter and put 50KVA of load from HID lamps onto a 25KVA circuit.

You most important tool in any fire situation is a COOL HEAD.

before being a profesional machinist/business owner I was a Auto mechanic for 10years and Broken cars light up all the time. Fires can get out of control quickly so you need to keep a lid and your emotions and get something on it to extinguish the fire.

At the auto shop we are required by law to have ABC dry chemical fire extinguishers. Man once you use one, you might be greatfull but you will hate the mess afterwards. We had fire blankets which I stopped using do to the irregularities and air pockets inside of an engine compartment (lets the fire burn too long, probably something to do with the fact that they are for people burning :D) and the dry fire extinguisher while effective is very very messy. So we kept a nitrogen fire extinguisher or two handy (which aren't allow for automotive, don't know why) and used those primarily.

we used to get at least 1-2 trashcan fires a week (union 76 station) from ashtray emptying idiots! those we moved away from the pumps and used water on. Unless they were a raging then the dry chemical would be used (the nitrogen were inside and using them outside were a stray fireguy or city official could see it was a no no.

When I was manager at a fabrication shop we had dry chemical abc. But when the welders would light something up general it was put out with your foot or moving the trashcan outside and use water.

The biggest thing is keep a cool head and don't race around like the building is burning down (that will be next! ;) ).

Does anyone have any stories to scare us into getting fire safety equipment? (I have 2 powder extinguishers) no fire blanket and no class d extinguisher. Would this be overkill for my ~25ft by ~10ft workroom? I guess it depends on the type of equipment you use too...

I started my business in the basement of a big house I rented; small mill, small lathe. I was making laboratory equipment in all manner of materials; plastic, aluminum, steel, stainless, brass, whatever. For cutting fluid I used Dexron ATF, WD40, tapping fluid, whatever. I was not meticulous about always keeping the chip trays on the machines clean, who is when things are busy?

One day I was working on a part in hardened steel and was turning it dry because sometimes it is better to let the chip heat up and lose strength. So red hot turnings were spiralling off the tool down into the tray which was full of turnings from aluminum, steel and plastic soaked in WD40, ATF, whatever. It lit up; I can still see the brilliant white flame that went up the wall behind the lathe and across the ceiling over my head. I did have a dry chemical extinguisher and the only damage was a big scorch mark up the wall and on the paint on the machine.

So is that scary enough?

From miljnor; "You most important tool in any fire situation is a COOL HEAD."

Most emphatically yes! And contrary though it sounds you don't move fast you move deliberately. And sometimes you stand there for several seconds analysing what the correct move is.

And contrary though it sounds you don't move fast you move deliberately. And sometimes you stand there for several seconds analysing what the correct move is.

we think alike. I couldn't have said it better myself..

no doubt we would hate each other (you know like brothers ) :D


The first fire I ever had (carburator lit up) everyone was so busy panicking the fire decided to go out by its self. Good thing too we took at least 10min getting the fireextinguisher read to go! :D

I know it is off the topic but I am totally unrepentant.

I realised this:

"And contrary though it sounds you don't move fast you move deliberately. And sometimes you stand there for several seconds analysing what the correct move is."

Is actually a very good principle to apply in running a business (substitute weeks, months or years for seconds).

See now, ye of little faith, I think its quite interesting to know that 1/3 of the people have no fire precautions! :D :banana:

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Just pop this back up into list! :)