Emergency equipment

Smoke alarms are essential for every home.

However, you may feel that you need extra fire safety equipment, perhaps because you live in a remote place or have high-risk appliances or equipment in your home.

Using fire emergency equipment

When a fire occurs, it is important to get out, stay out and call 999.

Emergency equipment can be helpful, but it is important to know how and when to use it.

Unless it is safe to do so, you shouldn't attempt to tackle fires yourself.

Fire extinguishers

There are three main types of fire extinguisher:

powder,
water and
foam.

No single type of extinguisher is totally effective on every kind of fire.

Before buying one, it's vital to look carefully at what kinds of fires it can be used on.

That way, you can make sure you get one suitable for your own needs.

Multi-purpose dry powder extinguishers or Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) extinguishers are usually the best choices for home use.

They have the fewest dangers and are effective on many types of fire.

Tips for the safe use of any type of extinguisher

make sure you read the instructions and are familiar with how to use it
only buy one you can carry easily
it is best placed in the hall and taken where needed
don't put it near a heater or fire, but do fix it to the wall, so that it is out of the reach of children, but easily accessible by others
get it serviced once a year (or as often as the manufacturer recommends)
when using the extinguisher on a fire, keep yourself on the escape route side of the blaze

Sprinklers

If you want to reduce the risk of death in a fire as much as possible, you could consider fitting sprinklers in your home. They provide a high level of protection from the risk of dying in a fire. They are particularly suitable for older people and for those who have difficulty moving around or have some other disability. In parts of the USA where sprinklers have become compulsory, almost no one dies from fire at home.

If you're considering getting a sprinkler system fitted, here are some further points to bear in mind:

sprinklers are fitted in as many rooms as you want them to be - their pipes are small and run off mains water
they are individually heat-activated, so the whole system doesn't go off at once
they rarely get set off accidentally as they need high temperatures to trigger them
they operate automatically, whether you're at home or not
if you have a sprinkler system, you should also have a smoke alarm, as this will alert you to slow-burning, smoke-generating fires which may not generate enough heat to trigger the sprinkler
sprinklers also sound an alarm when they go off, so they alert you as well as tackling the fire

More advice about sprinklers