Fire Extinguisher Training Event Proves Valuable

By Sarah Newberry
Staff writer
IG: @luv2dance43

Hutchinson Community College had a fire extinguisher training event on Monday at Shears Technology Center, and it brought in about 20 faculty, staff and students.

Michael McCandless taught the group, which included Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Student Services Michelle Wortham’s idea to hold this training. Wortham pointed out some useful information about where a fire extinguisher can be found on campus.

“I would encourage you, when you go back to your buildings, to try to locate where the closest fire extinguisher is. It’s always a good idea to visually know exactly where they are in case you need them,” Wortham said.

McCandless, HutchCC’s Fire Science Program Coordinator, taught the group about fire and showed a video on how fire works. It is important to know what to do in the event of a fire, and McCandless taught that, as well as what makes up a fire.

“So, you have to have three things to have fire. You have to have heat. You have to have fuel. You have to have oxygen,” McCandless said.

The talk McCandless offered tips, explained how different types of fires work, and outlined what to do in such situations. Also, he talked about the different classes of fire, which is crucial to know. Knowing how to extinguish a fire, as taught by McCandless, is important.

“There are five different classes. They break it down into classes to make it easy for extinguishers to extinguish the fire,” McCandless said.

McCandless discussed fire extinguishers in more depth, including which types to look for.           

“They’ll either be marked ABC or with a pictogram. That’s the most common one you’re going to find around the college here,” McCandless said.

McCandless went into more detail about the types of fires, including electrical fires. He gave vital information on what not to do to put one out.

“The class C fires are charged or electrical … the extinguishing agent will not conduct electricity, so you don’t want to put water on it,” McCandless said.

When you have a fire, it’s important to call 911 because a fire can change and grow quickly, as McCandless pointed out several times during the demonstration.

“You don’t want to try to fight something big that’s going to overwhelm you really quickly because it can grow very, very quickly. Stay between the fire and the exit,” McCandless said.

McCandless taught the PASS acronym, which is crucial to putting out a fire.

“Then you’re going to remember the acronym PASS, Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep,” McCandless said.

The event ended with students and faculty learning how to use a fire extinguisher. It is important, as McCandless pointed out, to know how to put out a fire safely.

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