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" In 2003, the most recent year tracked by the National Fire Protection Association, there were 388,500 home fires in this country. Those fires killed 3145 people, accounted for 13,650 injuries and did $5.9 billion in property damage. And while many people equip their home with smoke detectors and dutifully replace the battery in them annually, they may be poorly equipped to prevent even a small fire from getting out of hand. Your first line of defense is a properly charged fire extinguisher placed where you can get at it as quickly as possible. Don&amp;#039;t wait till there&amp;#039;s a fire to learn where your extinguisher is or whether it&amp;#039;s in working order. The ABC extinguisher is the most common in residential settings. It uses dry powder and inert gas as a propellant. The familiar red extinguisher has the ABC label positioned prominently on its tank. In most cases, it is a non-rechargeable device with a service life of about 12 years. At the end of that period, you can turn it in at a fire station so it can be used for demonstrations or drop it off at a fire equipment service company. In either case, call first to find out what, if any, requirements exist for dropping off fire extinguishers. It&amp;#039;s good practice to perform regular visual inspections of a residential fire extinguisher. Remove it from its wall bracket and check that the bracket has not loosened. Have a look at its tank, its pull pin, and check the gauge reading to see whether the extinguisher is losing its charge. Look into the nozzle and hose to be sure that a spider has not built its nest in there. If you&amp;#039;re not sure how old the extinguisher is, check the bottom of its tank. You should find its production date. The extinguisher&amp;#039;s A designation means that it&amp;#039;s rated to put out fires of ordinary combustibles such as wood and paper. The B designation means that it will extinguish blazes stemming from flammable liquids such as grease, oil and gasoline. An extinguisher with a C designation will extinguish an electrical fire. Bear in mind that the extinguishing agents themselves can do damage. Fire extinguisher manufacturer Kidde warns that the powder used in B and C extinguishers can fuse to hot oven surfaces, making cleanup difficult. Still, cleanup is obviously of secondary importance to putting out the fire. HOW TO USE Using an ABC extinguisher is straightforward if you remember the P.A.S.S. sequence: P: Pull the pin. A: Aim the extinguisher at the fire&amp;#039;s base. S: Squeeze the handle. S: Sweep the extinguisher back and forth. WHERE THEY GO If one fire extinguisher is good, two or more is better and safer. It&amp;#039;s a good idea to have several fire extinguishers placed around the home. FIGHT OR FLIGHT Fire becomes more dangerous by the second. If you can&amp;#039;t fight it immediately, when it&amp;#039;s safest, you have a hard choice to make. Firefighters advise that evacuation comes first if there are others that need care such as the physically impaired or children. The time-tested rule holds: Once you&amp;#039;ve gotten everybody out, don&amp;#039;t go back, even if that means consigning your house to the flames. Also, evacuate when any of the following occurs: A. The extinguisher is out but the fire is not. B. You sense that it&amp;#039;s a lost cause, even if the extinguisher still has extinguishing agent left. C. The room is filled with smoke. D. It appears that the fire is going to block your exit at any moment. Remember, you always fight a fire with your back to a clear exit. Never let flames get between you and your way out. If need be, clear the exit path, then get out. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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