Nurd
Yeahhh…so I never knew there was such a thing as a Fire Extinguisher Nerd, but apparently there are, since one just showed up in my office. Enthusiasm? Oh yeah, baby! He was actually quite hurt that the Goddess wouldn’t get up from her data entry to come outside in the rain and test the big fire extinguisher. I guess that operating a Portable Fire Suppression Device is a vital skill, especially in this era of rampant Inexplicable Incendiary Incidents.
At any rate, I got to go out and test-fire the thing, which I have to admit, was way cooler than I thought it would be. Did you know that the CO2 powder is stored at 1800 psi? That’s why you start away from the fire and move towards it - if you simply point the sucker into the middle of the blaze and blast away, you will send hot embers and bits of burning rock ‘n roll albums detritus flying in all directions, likey causing secondary flare-ups and increased collateral damage. All-in-all, I am glad I took the workshop, even though it was a bit short. I would have liked to learn the specialised techniques required for smaller suppression devices, and if I had been the instructor I would have broken the course down into Class A, B, and C events.
Despite the shortcomings of the workshop, I did enjoy grabbing the nozzle and blasting the nerd’s instructor’s clipboard with 1800psi of CO2, and I would highly recommend that anyone else who works in an office environment (especially those of you who toil in the mind-dulling regions known as cube farms) ask your supervisor to schedule a Fire Suppression Device Workshop. If they refuse, an anonymous phone call to your local Fire Marshall detailing the apalling lack of Fire Preparedness in your office will do the trick.
