Fire equipment

The first ninety seconds

Most fires that get put out are put out by whoever was standing there, with whatever was on the wall, before anyone arrived with a truck. That makes the equipment on your walls a genuine line of defence rather than a box-ticking exercise — but only if it is the right type, in the right place, and it works when the pin comes out.

Insurers know this, which is why most of them ask.

Extinguishers

Not all extinguishers are equivalent, and the differences matter more than the colour coding suggests. A kitchen with oils and fats needs wet chemical. That same extinguisher used on an electrical fire is dangerous.

We assess what is actually in your building — the processes, the plant, the stored materials — and specify accordingly, then site the units where someone will find them under stress rather than where the wall was convenient. Annual certification and life-cycle testing follow.

Our Which Extinguisher Is Right for Me? guide covers the classes in plain language.

Fire blankets

Ideal where small Class F fires are a risk: kitchens, and anywhere oils or fats are present. A blanket smothers the fire and cuts off its oxygen. It can also be used on a person whose clothing has caught.

Cover the burning material, leave no gap for oxygen, cut the power or fuel supply, call the fire service, and leave it covered for at least thirty minutes so the material cools.

Then throw it away. All our fire blankets comply with NZS 3504, and none of them are reusable.

Hose reels

A first-responder tool with two failure modes that have nothing to do with the hardware: nobody knows how to use it, and it is not where it needs to be.

Our hose reels deliver a minimum of 0.33 litres per second and comply with the requirements of the New Zealand Building Code. Sited correctly, a hose reel holds a fire at bay until the brigade arrives — which is often the difference between a damaged building and no building.