Cables and reaction to fire

I disagree with this. If the only way out is a window I would far rather have a fire extinguisher to put through it than try to smash it with my hands.....

I did my fire training with the merchant navy rather than the RN but it was certainly valuable experience. If it was a small fire (waste paper basket as suggested, perhaps) I would feel quite confident tackling it with a fire extinguisher, though if it actually was a waste paper basket I would probably just upend it as being a more reliable means of extinguishing. The real purpose of fire extinguishers in buildings is not to enable the occupants to put the fire out but rather if the occupants find their escape blocked by fire to give them a chance to get through. The fire brigade are the professionals so let them deal with the fire (and don't make them have to rescue you first).

False alarms are a definite problem but they are nowhere near as prevalent as they used to be. The addressable fire detection systems which were developed in the 1980's and subsequently did a lot to minimise the problems. I mentioned having been in hotels where the fire alarm had gone off - these were not fires but were the alarms reacting correctly (twice through someone in the restaurant at breakfast burning toast activating an alarm and at least once due to a resident leaving the bathroom door open while showering). The fact that this was 100% correct functioning of the detectors is a pretty high success rate.

Alasdair

I disagree with this. If the only way out is a window I would far rather have a fire extinguisher to put through it than try to smash it with my hands.....

I did my fire training with the merchant navy rather than the RN but it was certainly valuable experience. If it was a small fire (waste paper basket as suggested, perhaps) I would feel quite confident tackling it with a fire extinguisher, though if it actually was a waste paper basket I would probably just upend it as being a more reliable means of extinguishing. The real purpose of fire extinguishers in buildings is not to enable the occupants to put the fire out but rather if the occupants find their escape blocked by fire to give them a chance to get through. The fire brigade are the professionals so let them deal with the fire (and don't make them have to rescue you first).

False alarms are a definite problem but they are nowhere near as prevalent as they used to be. The addressable fire detection systems which were developed in the 1980's and subsequently did a lot to minimise the problems. I mentioned having been in hotels where the fire alarm had gone off - these were not fires but were the alarms reacting correctly (twice through someone in the restaurant at breakfast burning toast activating an alarm and at least once due to a resident leaving the bathroom door open while showering). The fact that this was 100% correct functioning of the detectors is a pretty high success rate.

Alasdair