Fire Extinguishers on Public-service Vehicles.
Page 32
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
QOME difficulty has arisen regarding the new 1—/Regulation by which it is required that a suitable and efficient extinguisher, which will comply with the requirements of the Fire Offices Committee, shall be carried on every public-service vehicle.
The main difficulty is that the requirements of this Committee call for an extinguisher having a capacity of at least one quart, whereas what may be termed the standard type of extin-. guisher is only a reputed quart of 32 oz., as against the 40 oz. required.
We are certain that it was never intended by the Ministry of Transport that public-servicevehicle operators and the manufacturers of the appliances in question should be put to great Inconvenience, and in the case of the latter, possibly, to large expenditure through alterations in plant. We suggest, therefore, that the whole matter could easily be settled by a slight modification in the requirements of the Fire Offices Committee, which would have the effect of giving approval to the Cresent standard size of extinguisher, of which there• are already many thousands of examples in service, and which, we presume, will all eventually require to be approved and labelled accordingly.
It is important to note the adjectives, " suitable" and "efficient," which are used to describe the required apparatus. Vehicle operators should beware of purchasing extinguishers which may possibly not be worthy of this description. The mere fact that one is being carried is not sufficient ; it must be capable of giving the necessary standard of performance.