Extinguishers banned as a fire safety hazard

Metro.co.uk ^ | April 14, 2011 | Metro.co.uk

[libertarian27]

'Obviously, in some cases, an extinguisher could come in useful but, with new building regulations, every escape route should be completely fireproof.'

But, but, but.....what if there's a fire inside the fireproof escape route?

Every story like this I read, another one of my brain cells goes off and weeps in a corner.

[theBuckwheat]

The dysfunctional bureaucratic mindset at work here is that there is more safety in absolute risk aversion than allowing people to have the tools to address a exigent hazard if they choose to do so.

This is only the latest manifestation of of the very same mindset that seeks to entirely ban public ownership firearms and indeed prohibits the use of any weapon in self defense.

[Still Thinking]

Because, you know, why would we want to put out the fire when it’s somebody’s stove on fire, when we could let the entire building burn down. Did these Einsteins stop to think that fleeing might be safer for the INDIVIDUAL than fighting it, but the people on adjacent floors are in much GREATER danger because we let a four-alarm fire develop than they would have been from the small fire? I thought libs were all about the greatest good for the greater number! [facepalm]

[MarkL]

This might be new in GB, but I remember hearing talk about this back in the late 1980s when I was in college. They were talking about possibly removing fire extinguishers from the dorms for just that reason, as well as the fact that they were occasionally stolen and used in pranks.

Mark

[C210N]

When seconds count, the fire department is only minutes away.

[poobear]

Two handed face palm material. The Brits left there with IQ’s over 80 must be drinking heavily or planning to leave.

[bolobaby]

It doesn’t take an advanced degree. You just have to be a card carrying member of the fire fighter’s union.

[SJSAMPLE]

Don’t be too hard on them.
America is not far behind.

More and more US companies are instructing employees not to touch the extinguishers and call “trained” emergency responders within the company.

[NavyCanDo]

If they are not able to understand the simple 3-step operating instructions on the clearly visible label, I'm not sure I want these people on the streets driving, or even walking on the streets where they may step out into traffic.

[hoosierham]

There has been a drumbeat for decades ,centered around “call 9-1-1 “, that emergencies can ONLY be handled by government trained and certified persons,who just happen to be union members.

[BikerJoe]

The UK has truly and unrecoverably become an Insane Asylum.

...and most of their worst ideas take about 5 years to show up here...

[Sherman Logan]

With residential sprinklers, you’re unlikely to have the fire spread.

[Still Thinking]

True, although it isn’t ideal to try to put out a grease fire with water. Probably work anyway, though, as the grease eventually all burns off and the non-grease stuff it might have ignited is all sodden now.

[NavyCanDo]

“ONLY be handled by government trained and certified persons,who just happen to be union members.”

You may have hit on the real reason.

[Cheapskate]

Are these nimrods lighting up potato peels and inhaling the smoke again?

Lord have mercy!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

You’re welcome.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Perhaps a waiting period would suffice.

[Peter W. Kessler]

I’d love to see the return on Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Oh... wait...

[Don W]

I don’t know about where you live, but up here in the frozen North, our apartment blocks have these indoor common areas called “HALLWAYS”, and “FRONT ENTRIES”, and “FOYERS”, and “LAUNDRY ROOMS” that all qualify as what the Brit press calls “communal areas”.

I suppose that you’ve never heard of such like...

[Still Thinking]

The Brits left there with IQ’s over 80 must be drinking heavily or planning to leave.

Or just planning to extinguish an fires on their own without asking permission first.