Re: Fire Extinguisher - Landlord Forum thread 356398

Re: Fire Extinguisher by Garry (Iowa) on March 8, 2018 @19:45

Most cities in the country, if they have city-mandated inspections, require fire extinguishers in each individual rental unit. (and also in hallways of larger apartment complexes) Why would you NOT want to provide one, even if it's not required by a code ? If a fire starts somewhere in your unit, and the tenant is home, the FIRST thing they should do is GET EVERYONE OUT! However, if a T makes an on-the-spot determination that they may be able to stop a small fire, don't you think a fire ext. on the premises would be a good thing. They are $20-$40 in most areas of the country, and are good for 10 years before needing to be replaced or recharged. You provide smoke detectors, don't you? Then doesn't it make sense to also provide a fire ext. After all, it's just another level of protection for the tenant, their possessions, and your VALUABLE RENTAL PROPERTY. That's pretty cheap protection, from having a $1,000 fire becoming a $1,000,000 fire. Check with you local building code officials, and also the fire dept. to see what they recommend.

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Re: Fire Extinguisher by Kat (WI) on March 9, 2018 @22:53	[ Reply ]

Why would you not? Because some states require you to have a trained person available to use it if the need arises if you provided the fire extinquisher. That is a little difficult in single family, duplex and triplex units.

Re: Fire Extinguisher by Garry (Iowa) on March 10, 2018 @07:50	[ Reply ]

I'm guessing that you are talking about businesses that are either open to the general public, such as Walmart, Sears, Subway, office buildings, schools,etc. , or manufacturing places, like car companies, John Deere, small manufacturing places, etc. Places that have EMPLOYEES on site, that are trained to operate fire extinguishers. And, yes, it's possible that some states even require larger apartment complexes to train their maintenance people to use fire ext. And in some cases where a mom and pop rental operation only owns 3 units or less, they may be exempt from what you are talking about. But having a fire ext. on site, is always better than NOT having one, no matter who owns it. My city requires ALL rental properties to have a fire ext. on site, and we must replace it after 10 years (there is always a man. date on it somewhere).

Re: Fire Extinguisher by Kat (WI) on March 11, 2018 @01:29	[ Reply ]

Nope. the ordinance is specific to rentals and didn't include any exemptions for smaller properties. If you provide the extinguisher in a multi-family dwelling (even if it just a 2 or 3 family multifamily) you have to provide a trained person to operate it.

Re: Fire Extinguisher