When my son

was five, he asked me, "Daddy, if there's a fire at our house, will

you put it out with your fire truck?"

I told him

that, "The Chief won't let me take the fire truck home with me. If

there was a fire at our house, I would do what everyone else should do.

First, call 911. Then, if the fire is not too big, try to put it out with

a fire extinguisher."

"How big

is not too big?" Good question from a five year-old. How do you know

if a fire is too big to put out by yourself? Before I had a chance to

answer, he asked me another question.

"Daddy,

what's a fire extinguisher?"

"Well,

it's as simple as ABC and one, two, three." He looked up at me with

big green eyes and said that I was just being silly. But it's true, portable

fire extinguishers are classified as to what kind of fire they can put

out: Class A, Class B, or Class C fires. The amount of fire they can put

out is determined by numbers - the larger the number, the more fire they

can put out.

Class A fires

involve ordinary combustibles such as cloth, paper, plastic, or rubber.

Class A fire extinguishers are rated from 1A to 40A. The 1A rating on

the extinguisher signifies that it can put out a fire that is about one

cubic foot in size. A rating of 40A on the extinguisher means that it

has 40 times the extinguishing agent as a 1A extinguisher.

Class B fires

are flammable liquids, gases or grease. Examples of class B fires are

ones that involve oil, gasoline, propane, or cooking oil. Class B extinguishers

are rated from 1B to 640B. The 1B extinguisher can put out a fire that

is in a one foot square area. (A 20B rating has 20 times the extinguishing

agent as a 1B.)

Class C fires

involve class A or class B products but are electrified. To put out a

class C fire, you would disconnect the power and then it would become

a class A or B fire. (First, call the fire department; then, only if it

safe to do so, shut off the electricity and try to extinguish the fire.)

Class C extinguishers have no number ratings.

Before you

buy an extinguisher, look on the side and you will see ABC, 1, 2, 3, or

you will see pictographs. Class A will be a picture of a trash can and

wood on fire, class B will have a picture of a gas can and gasoline on

fire, and class C will have a picture of an electrical cord and plug on

fire.

So you see,

fighting fires is as simple as A, B, C, 1-2-3. (I don't know which extinguisher

will put out a flaming marshmallow the best. But if you buy a ten pound

ABC all purpose, I'm sure that it'll do just fine for marshmallows and

most anything else around the house that's on fire.)

If you have

a flaming marshmallow in your house (or anything else for that matter)

first have someone call 911, and then just PASS. Pull the pin on the extinguisher,

Aim at the base of the flames, Squeeze the handle, and Sweep the nozzle

from side to side. If the extinguisher is empty and you still see fire,

then it's too big for you to put out and it's time for the experts to

go to work.

"How big

is not too big?" My son asked. When is a fire too big to fight with

an extinguisher? Good rule of thumb about fires - if the fire is so big

that it scares you, then probably you need to leave the firefighting to

the experts. Call the fire department and let them put it out. One last

thought about fires - the most important thing to get out of a fire is

you and your loved ones. Have a home escape lesson plan for every room

in your house. Draw the plan and post it on the refrigerator. Make sure

your kids practice two ways out of each room, especially the bedroom (most

fatal home fires happen at night). When the smoke detector goes off, everyone

needs to get out! If a fire happens at my house, that's what I'm gonna

do 'cause the chief still won't let me take the fire truck home.

[Rick Ryckeley

is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

He can be reached at [email protected].]