Can we have a fire safety talk?

[Feltwell]

Of course - Joce's case sounds quite extreme, and does sound like a rather "bodge-tastic" installation by the previous owner - which is all the more reason to get the wiring checked properly by a qualified electrician.

I can go into the cellar and cut power off completely to the house using a decidely ancient looking, but apparently perfectly safe, incoming switch. It looks like the kind of thing that was used in Hammer House of Horror films, accompanied by lines like "More power Igor....." !!

 

[Flyfisher]

You'll be needing some of Jon Maine's light fittings then, as well as walking with a distinct stoop.

 

[Feltwell]

:lol:

I don't have the stoop yet, but I do walk with a distinct limp due to a knackered knee -will that do?

 

[Flyfisher]

Dragging your foot would probably be more theatrically effective. :wink:

 

[Jon Maine]

Does it buzz and arc when you throw the switch?? :shock:

 

[Feltwell]

Dragging your foot would probably be more theatrically effective. :wink:

Top tip there! I shall refine my technique!

Does it buzz and arc when you throw the switch?? :shock:

Fortuneately, no! We had to get the meter changed when we moved in, the chap from the electricity board confirmed it probably dates from the 1930's when electricity was first put in here, but also said it was perfectly safe.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

No, Feltwell, there aren't any smoke alarms here.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Good God Joce - you have to sort this tomorrow. Smoke alarms save lives - every day. They cost buttons and you need a few - outside bedrooms, high traffic areas, hallways, near to high risk areas (kitchen, rooms with fires etc). We have small battery operated ones which really aren't noticed in a period setting. As others say, you can get more fancy ones - mains powered, radio-linked, etc. But a bog standard one for a few quid does the job too.

Please promise us you will do this before you build another chook coop or get the dent in the car fixed!

Just remember - you can get a free fire safety check and it might be carried out by a burly fireman!

When you've got alarms sorted, get a spark to come and do a periodic inspection test on those "DIY" electrics. "Pride" shouldn't come into this.

 

[Jon Maine]

Best get some hard wired alarms, perhaps the burly fireman will advise too on the benefits of a hard one too. :lol:

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

I don't where to start in answering you all! I am very touched. It seems that you are all on the other end of the scale of safety consciousness! Thankyou so very much for all the concern and general advice, it's lovely to read as shall we just say that Chris' utter lack of response to/ belief in/caring about my feelings of vulnerability in this cottage are an ongoing bone of contention. And don't imagine I have much power over him - quite the opposite. All I can do is try to chip away and sneakily do things behind his back that he wouldn't have given permission for! :lol: Sometimes I think if it wasn't for the support of you lot I'd take myself off to Kazakhstan forthwith and live in a yurt with a nice shepherd!

The smoke alarms and fire extinguishers are things I can just go and buy from my housekeeping allowance. But I can't book tradesmen. That can only be done with the sanction of His Lordship, who won't sanction it.

On a happier note, Chris spent a long time working through various circuits and points, and has come to the conclusion that the tripping out is caused by the outdoor lighting, which is connected to the house's ring main (right word?), and which he has pronounced should have its own consumer unit. I think the smell of burning in the top bedroom is just the smell of the smoke coming out of the adjoining chimney.

As for not being able to access the consumer unit, Chris says I just need to get a grip and get up there. I'll take some proper pics, see if you have any suggestions for making it easier for me to access. The ladder is too precarious an option.

 

[LadyArowana]

that he wouldn't have given permission for!

Joce, a wise person told me it is much better to ask forgiveness than permission! If permission is denied then you are left with the choice of either going ahead in full knowledge that you are being sinful or doing without. If you just do something, then say "but darling I was sure you wouldn't mind" you have gotten what you want and have the advantage of making them feel bad if they try and complain. After all you have credited them with being so nice and sweet and generous that you didn't expect to be refused. Worse case scenario you apologise and say you won't do it again. Which in boy logic terms means of course you won't do EXACTLY the same thing again.

 

[skier-hughes]

I've had fire safey and training in the use of extinguishers.
Last week at the last Kids youth club some yobs put a bale of straw (nativity) next to the fire exit of the school and set fire to it.
4 water extinguishers did not put it out.
First time I've ever used one for real, not impressed at all.
A big fire blanket would most likely have been more use.

Ruined the kids Xmas party, but thankfully everyone evacuated quickly and we had no casualties.

 

[Flyfisher]

Little darlings . . . . :evil:

 

[Moo]

Chris may not allow his little woman to call in a tradesman without his permission, but a Fireman is not a tradesman, is he?
And anyway, if said hunk comes along during the working day to trade good advice for tea and biccies, Chris doesn't need to know, does he?

 

[Lime]

I've had fire safey and training in the use of extinguishers.
Last week at the last Kids youth club some yobs put a bale of straw (nativity) next to the fire exit of the school and set fire to it.
4 water extinguishers did not put it out.
First time I've ever used one for real, not impressed at all.
A big fire blanket would most likely have been more use.

Ruined the kids Xmas party, but thankfully everyone evacuated quickly and we had no casualties.

A large proportion of fire extinguishers are next to useless.
They are either too small or do not eject it's contents fast enough.
I've had real experience of water, foam and CO2 extinguishers in a waste bin fire, an electric overheating fire and a car fire.
The water extinguisher (quite big, shaped like a volcano) squirted out water so slowly and in such a tiny stream that it was worse that useless. It would have been more effective to beat the fire out with it.
One of the foam extinguishers didn't work despite the guage telling me it was ok, the second one hardly produced any foam worth speaking of.
The small CO2 extinguishers worked quite well on both the car fire and, similarly, on the electric overheating.

Candidly, for interior house protection I suggest a bucket of sand and a couple of buckets of water as well as a CO2 extinguisher.. the bigger the better.


The only real major shed/house fire I have tackled was using a hose pipe.
I crawled under the smoke (there was a small clean air gap to about a foot high off the ground under the thick smoke) and crawled towards the glow aiming the hose as best I could.
It was completely out by the time the fire brigade arrived.

As a consequence, my garden hose is always connected ready for use in emergency.

 

[Flyfisher]

A fire course I attended many years ago explained the 'fire triangle' - heat, fuel and oxygen. All three are needed for a fire and if you can remove any one of them the fire will go out.

Water works by removing the heat from a fire and a big one will generate a vast amount of heat, necessitating a large amount of water to cool it to below the ignition temperature. A typical water extinguisher probably has just a bucketful of water - not really very much - and that's your lot. Think of Skier's burning bale of straw - lots and lots of heat and even four water extinguishers failed to put it out.

Lime's hose suggestion would have probably done the job though. First in preventing the fire from spreading, by cooling down adjacent materials, and then gradually moving in on the main fire cooling it from the edges.

Which reminds me . . . I've was intending to get one of those wall-mounted hose reels all year but never quite got around to it. I reckon it will be a better investment than a couple of water extinguishers.

 

[Penners]

Joce - there are lots of things that you could be doing to improve your safety, but there is one thing that you MUST DO NOW.

Fit smoke alarms.

As has been mentioned, hard-wired systems are best, but if you haven't the budget for these right now, then at least buy yourself some battery ones. They're very cheap and they're ESSENTIAL.

And read this:- http://direct.gov.uk/en/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/documents/digitalasset/dg_073993.pdf

 

[cotegreen]

for your info, if you ring your local fire station they will fit you smoke alarms for free ( goverment funded initative) regardless of who you are or where you live, in additon they will also give you an escape plan showing you the best ways of escape or how to survive if trapped by fire.

i am a fireman and do these all the time, the smoke alarms have a battery that last 10 years so its worth a phone call or visit to your local brigades website where you can ask on there. hope it helps.

the only drawback is it means you generally end up with a fire engine outside your house whilst they fit them, which makes any neighbours intruiged!

 

[Jon Maine]

for your info, if you ring your local fire station they will fit you smoke alarms for free ( goverment funded initative) regardless of who you are or where you live, in additon they will also give you an escape plan showing you the best ways of escape or how to survive if trapped by fire.

i am a fireman and do these all the time, the smoke alarms have a battery that last 10 years so its worth a phone call or visit to your local brigades website where you can ask on there. hope it helps.

the only drawback is it means you generally end up with a fire engine outside your house whilst they fit them, which makes any neighbours intruiged!

You think Joce would worry about that!! although Chris might

 

[JoceAndChris]

Wonderful! Thankyou so much cotegreen, I will ring the fire brigade first thing tomorrow; how exciting!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Wonderful! Thankyou so much cotegreen, I will ring the fire brigade first thing tomorrow; how exciting!

Just don't dial 999 Joce!