Fire Extinguishers
Save Lives

See It – Grab It – Use It

YORK, PA – Back in August of this year, a 91-year-old resident of York, PA rushed to her neighbor’s apartment with a portable fire extinguisher after being alerted to a kitchen fire. Neighbors recounted that the 91-year-old confidently grabbed the portable fire extinguisher from the apartment building hallway and put out the kitchen fire. Even more impressive was that the elderly woman was able to extinguish the flames despite her already failing health; she passed away from congestive heart failure in September. The City of York posthumously honored her with the creation of the Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award in her name for community members who go above and beyond in providing extraordinary service for the safety and well-being of their community, just as she did in August.

York Daily Record (York, PA)

ELK GROVE, CA – As a teacher was driving to school one morning on Highway 99, her car burst into flames. She immediately pulled over to the side of the road and exited her car. Meanwhile, two soon to be Good Samaritans witnessed the fire begin. Both witnesses grabbed portable fire extinguishers that they had and ran to the car. The two men were able to completely put out the fire with the extinguishers before fire authorities arrived. The teacher lost a few books to the fire, but residents of the town have already stepped in to replace them for her.

CBS Sacramento (Elk Grove, CA)

HONOLULU, HI – Fire fighters on the Island of Honolulu were recently called to the scene of a fire at a local restaurant. However, when they arrived on the scene they found that the fire had already been extinguished by a group of Good Samaritans. The group had noticed the fire as they were passing by, so they quickly entered the building, retrieved a portable fire extinguisher and put out the flames. Fire investigators had not determined the cause of the fire, but said it was of suspicious origin. The Good Samaritans prevented over $600,000 of damage from occurring.

Hawaii Tribune Herald (Honolulu, HI)

TEMPLE, TX – Employees of a Texas grocery store were able to use a portable fire extinguisher to put out a fire that had started in the loading dock. Temple fire fighters arrived at the loading dock area around 3:40 a.m. to find that the fire had already been extinguished by the store employees. Their fire investigation determined that the fire was started unintentionally from the heat of a trailer’s clearance light against the door seal. Temple Fire and Rescue said the damage was confined to the door seal and that no one was injured by the fire.

News Channel 25 KXXV (Temple, TX)

PORTLAND, OR – A family of five was in their home when their newly purchased hover board burst into flames on the house’s staircase. The family’s sons were upstairs in their bedrooms, while the two parents were down stairs. The father quickly grabbed a portable fire extinguisher to put out the flames coming from the hover board. Meanwhile, the sons were following the family’s emergency escape plan, which allowed the boys to safely climb down the side of the house using an emergency ladder.

KOIN 6 (Portland, OR)

BURTON, SC – Over three consecutive days, Burton Fire officials were dispatched to three separate fires that were ultimately extinguished by bystanders before the fire fighters arrived. The first fire started in a school bus wheel well and was doused using the fire extinguisher that was on board. The bus was not carrying any passengers at the time of the incident. The second fire occurred in a J.C. Penney parking lot when a pickup truck’s engine caught on fire. The driver immediately stopped and used the portable fire extinguisher he had to put out the flames. The final fire was caused by a malfunctioning window air conditioner unit in a home living room. The fire then spread to a nearby couch, but the home’s resident cut power to the unit and used a fire extinguisher. Burton Fire officials are using the incidents to highlight the importance of every home and vehicle having a fire extinguisher.

WTOC.com (Burton, SC)

ELKIN, NC – Three Walmart employees and a customer were honored by the store for their quick thinking that helped minimize an emergency situation and save property and lives. Back on July 4th, around 10:30 pm, a customer alerted the store employees to a fire that had started on one of the merchandise shelves. Three of the store’s employees and a customer ran to get fire extinguishers, which they then used to put out the flames. All three employees had received computer-based extinguisher training, which they credit to helping their effectiveness in the situation. While fire damage to the store was limited, it did have to temporarily close down for the smoke damage to be removed.

Elkin Tribune (Elkin, NC)

JEROME, ID – The Jerome City Fire Department received an emergency call from a resident claiming that there was an explosion next to her house at the Jerome Business Center. When the Fire Department arrived at the Center, they found that the structural fire caused from the explosion had already been put out with a fire extinguisher by two men working in the building. After the fire crew investigated the scene, they learned that the explosion and fire were caused by the tenants of the building who were grinding metal which created a spark that set some fuel vapors on fire. There were no injuries as a result of the explosion or fire.

KMVT 11 (Jerome, ID)

EVERETT, WA – The Everett Director of Emergency Management and the town Fire Marshal recognized a local woman who helped save her neighbor’s house from a fire. Early one morning, the woman woke to shouting coming from her neighbor’s house. When she looked out the window, she saw that there was a fire on the neighbor’s back porch. She quickly grabbed a portable fire extinguisher from her kitchen, and ran to her neighbor’s house to extinguish the fire. The neighbor had already called 911, but the woman was able to prevent the fire from spreading until the authorities arrived.

My Everett News (Everett, WA)

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ – As a FedEx driver completed his delivery route, he witnessed a car crash into a large rock and flip over. The FedEx driver then immediately pulled over and jumped into action. He ran to the flipped car and carefully helped remove the driver from the vehicle. He then noticed the vehicle had caught on fire so he returned to his truck, grabbed a portable fire extinguisher, and used it to put out the flames. While the police department arrived on the scene less than a minute after the crash, the FedEx driver had already saved the motorist and extinguished the fire.

TAP into Milltown/Spotswood (South Brunswick, NJ)

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