No clue?

[lorettacritchet]

As some of you have probably read, I had a fire in my kitchen on thursday night and no it wasn't down to my cooking :(

I just wanted to ask what people thought whether it was sufficient to just rewash things like the cutlery/plates etc which were on the draining board and were just covered with the dust from the whole situation. I have thrown everything away like open cereal boxes, fruits etc just to be safe but the plates, i thought a hot wash would be okay but i am so conscious that i might make a child sick....what would you do? i don't even know wot to do with the extinguisher.

[blue bear]

Didn't want to read and run but don't really know. I would imagine ceramic plates would be ok hot washed but think I'd replace plastic ones. You need to get the extinguisher serviced by someone officical you can't just throw it away.

[Mummits]

If you take the extinguisher to your local tip, they will probably be able to advise you whether they can take it and whether it is recyclable, and if not, what to do with it. I have taken a few "odd" things over the years and they have usually been able to recycle them. If you are talking about a small domestic extiguisher, I doubt it would be worth the cost or effort of trying to get it refilled - almost certainly cheaper and easier to replace it.

[hectors house]

Sorry to hear you had a fire, sounds like damage was minimal thank goodness - still very scary though, I set a grill pan on fire years ago and my daughter was a nightmare for months after, she kept coming into our room in middle of night asking us to check the grill was off.

I would hot wash all the plates (just make sure they haven't got any cracks in from the heat which could harbour germs in future) and cutlery and see if fire extinguisher can be refilled.

Hope you get everything back straight soon.

[FussyElmo]

Have you rang your insurance company? If you are throwing things away then you might be able to claim for it.

We had quite a major fire in the kitchen a few years back and you will be suprised how quickly the money will add up in there.

Personally I would throw it all away :thumbsup:

[rickysmiths]

I am very sorry to hear of your plight. I would throw everything away as if it was plastic that melted there will be a toxic film. You may need to speak to your insurance company about having your kitchen deep cleaned for the same reason.

With regard to your Extinguisher. You need to contact a servicing company, probably the one you pay to come and check it every year would be best and they will check to see if it is OK and refill it for you.

If you don't use a company then if you contact your local school or friendly Scout Group they may be able to give you the name of a local company. I know our Scout group use one in Watford.

I would then advise you to set up a contract with them to come and check your extinguisher annually. This is something any of you thet have one should do. I would also advise training so you know what you can safely use the extinguisher you have on. For example the obvious one is not to use an H20 one on any electrical fires.

This is why I would not advise having one in the home they can do more harm than good if you are not trained to use them and know which one to use for what fire. The Fire Brigade actually advise against for cms and advise us to get out with the children and raise the alarm, not to try and fight the fire.

When I was a Manager in the Catering Trade I was regularly sent on 2 day courses so I was keep up to date with the different Fire Extinguishers and their uses because they do change.

Personally I do not have one in the house and now we can decide my Fire Blanket has been replaced with a lovely ceramic owl on the wall in my kitchen. Again my local Fire Brigade advised against having one and I had it to tick a box and keep Ofsted happy. Now I have in my RAs thast the FB have advised against.