Fire extinguishers

Sue Dunlap <sdunlap [at] wooster__edu> writes

>We need to equip our special collections area with fire
>extinguisher.  Our safety officer on campus suggested one that uses
>water or one that uses powder.  They apparently weigh about 40 lbs.
>We are concerned about being able to lift and use something this
>heavy.  Also, we wonder about the content of the powder
>extinguishers on the books.  Does anyone have any suggestions of the
>best type of fire extinguisher for a special collections department?

In an environment with museum, archive or library collections one
should *never* use powder. Powder is not only poisonous but
extremely corrosive. One may say that it will put out the flames but
that the fire will continue for years.

The latest development are portable watermist fire extinguishers.
These extinguishers will put out a fire using very little water and
are very effective.

Read more about these extinguishers:

    A study of portable water mist fire extinguishers used for
    extinguishment of multiple fire types.
    <URL:http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/fulltext/nrcc46879/>

Ton Cremers


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:43
               Distributed: Wednesday, February 13, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-43-003
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