NORWICH – Local emergency management officials are cautioning consumers about purchasing unapproved fire extinguishers at local retailers, saying there is no guarantee the products will put out fires.
Chenango County Fire Coordinator Matthew L. Beckwith said concern over the devices was first raised through a memo issued by the New York State Department of State’s Office of Fire Prevention and Control in late November.
Beckwith said the memo notified officials that many retailers in the state were selling the fire extinguishers even though they did not meet the state’s general business law requirements.
“It has come to OFPC’s attention that that fire extinguishers, that do not meet the requirements of General Business Law section 391-j, are being offered for sale in New York State through various retail establishments,” stated OFPC’s memo.
The memo goes on to explained “the sale of fire extinguishers in the State of New York is governed by the General Business Law, section 391-j which provides that is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to sell or offer for sale, fire extinguishers” that do not meet all the requirements of the state law.
Beckwith said he canvassed local stores and discovered some of the extinguishers being sold at the Walmart in Norwich. Beckwith also noted the store contained several other brands of fire extinguishers carrying the proper approval.
“Basically the issue is (the fire extinguishers) don’t meet the state standards. Before anything is sold in New York State, it has to meet certain criteria and certain testing and it appears these extinguishers haven’t gone through the performance testing as they should’ve been under the law,” said Beckwith.
Beckwith said the illicit extinguishers were aerosol based and made by the company Tundra.
“The sale of unapproved fire extinguishers in New York, such as the Tundra, manufactured by BRK Brands and marketed by First Alert, is unlawful. A knowing violation is punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars for a first violation and ten thousand dollars for each successive violation,” stated the memo.
“Without proper approval from the state there’s no guarantee of performance, such as actually putting out a fire. I honestly don’t know if they work, but I know they haven’t yet been shown to meet the standards. We wanted to make sure everybody is aware of the issue so they don’t buy them. If you own one of these already, we would strongly suggest replacing it with a tested and approved product,” advised Beckwith.
Beckwith did not know why or how the retailers were able to offer the products to consumers, but said OFPC was in the legal process of figuring that out.
Calls to OFPC were not returned by press time.
Beckwith said all fire extinguishers must be tested and approved by Underwriters Laboratory, Factory Mutual or other nationally accredited laboratory.
Extinguishers must have labeling securely affixed which contains:
• Proper operational insturctions.
• The class or rating identifying kinds of fires which the particular extinguisher is suitable to be used on.
• Appropriate letter rating and pictorial markings.
• Accompanied with an instructional manual detailing operational use, basic fire safety and other information.
Beckwith also recommended that consumers check their extinguisher’s pressure gauge annually.
“It’s chimney fire season and people should make sure their extinguishers have been inspected and are properly charged. People tend to buy them and think they last forever,” he said.