How to Train for Fire Extinguisher Testing

While some people may fear that using a fire extinguisher is difficult, in reality it is one of the easiest skills to learn and it may make a huge impact in your ability to extinguish a future fire. For those that are worried about testing fire extinguishers in a live situation, the following steps will help to prepare you for the testing day.

Things You'll Need

• Portable fire extinguisher

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Instructions

• 1

  Yellow Safety Seal

  Take a close look at your portable fire extinguisher. Locate the squeeze handle, the pressure gauge (circular object with numbers on it near the squeeze handle), the hose, the label stating what type of fire extinguisher you have and the safety seal or pin near the squeeze handle. Do not break the seal if it is still intact.

• 2

  Grab a hold of the fire extinguisher with two hands, place one hand on the squeeze handle and one hand on the hose. Feel the weight of the extinguisher; if it is very light, this may indicate that the extinguisher is empty. If it is heavy, that indicates that it is full or mostly full (if the security seal has been broken).

• 3

  Practice holding the hose and aiming it at objects surrounding you--get comfortable with the feeling of holding the squeeze handles in one hand while controlling the hose with the other hand.

• 4

  Memorize the PASS phrase, which stands for the steps of operating a fire extinguisher: Pull the pin, Aim the hose, Squeeze the handles, Sweep the fire. This will be the main lesson in your fire extinguisher training and it will help you focus on the test if you know this before hand.

• 5

  Safely place the fire extinguisher back in its holding mechanism after you are finished.