Fire extinguisher recommendation

[gary892]

I would like to hear your fire extinguisher recommendations for use in a home darkroom.
I process film and silver gelatin prints. Looking to process platinum & palladium images sometime in the future.

Is the one that Costco sells acceptable? It is a general purpose fire extinguisher.

Thanks

Gary

[jp]

I don't have one in my darkroom; they are normal abc ones elsewhere in the house.

If I felt like I needed one in the darkroom, it would probably be a clean agent type...
The extra $150-200 for it would be gold compared to the cleanup mess a normal one makes. Co2, halotron, h3r, halon, etc..

[MusicalPhotog]

So, might be a dumb question... I didn't think there was anything reactive enough to necessitate the presence of a fire extinguisher in your garden-variety darkroom. Is this naive thinking on my part?

[Drew Wiley]

I have at least 3 in my combined darkroom/shop, ordinary ABC type. Common sense. They're cheap enough. But they're also required by the Fire Dept, who has the right of inspection due to my business license.

[MusicalPhotog]

I have at least 3 in my combined darkroom/shop, ordinary ABC type. Common sense. They're cheap enough. But they're also required by the Fire Dept, who has the right of inspection due to my business license.

Yes, from a business standpoint, I can certainly understand the need; especially in compliance with local fire codes. But I, like many others here, have just a home darkroom setup. So I'm wondering if there is something I'm overlooking in my darkroom, (aside from the obvious electrical devices), that may justify the need for a fire extinguisher?

[John Kasaian]

I'd avoid using Halon in closed spaces like in a darkroom.

[Drew Wiley]

Strong oxidants like potassium permanganate or sodium hydroxide, found in numerous darkrooms, can generate intense heat and start fires. Alcohol, acetone, and especially ether combust easily. Wiring can corrode in humid conditions, especially aluminum wire, and start fires. Many multi-outlet strip devices are substandard. Most non-industrial lithium batteries and chargers are a distinct risk. Drymount presses, hot enlarger heads too close to a wall or ceiling, etc.

[John Kasaian]

Strong oxidants like potassium permanganate or sodium hydroxide, found in numerous darkrooms, can generate intense heat and start fires. Alcohol, acetone, and especially ether combust easily. Wiring can corrode in humid conditions, especially aluminum wire, and start fires. Many multi-outlet strip devices are substandard. Most non-industrial lithium batteries and chargers are a distinct risk. Drymount presses, hot enlarger heads too close to a wall or ceiling, etc.

Ansel Adams' dark room in Yosemite burned down IIRC. I don't recollect the cause of the fire, but certainly the possibility should be a concern.

[Bob Salomon]

Ansel Adams' dark room in Yosemite burned down IIRC. I don't recollect the cause of the fire, but certainly the possibility should be a concern.

When my daughter got married we had Monte Zucker and Clay Bannister photograph the wedding. They did a hell of a job!
However we never got any prints, only proofs. We lived in N NJ and their studio was in Silver Springs, MD.

The day after we received the proofs his studio burned down, everything was lost, including the negatives!

A few days later in NJ another Master Photographers studio also burned down as did a few others.

Turned out that they all used McDonalds sprays in a spray booth to finish their prints. The sprays left a flammable residue inside the spray booths and the exhaust fan shorted out setting the residue on fire which burned down the studios. Most of the fires occurred at night when the studios were closed so no one was harmed but an awful lot of high end portraits, weddings, bar Mitzvahs photographs were lost!

[Drew Wiley]

Art space fires are a plague around here. They tend to get huge fast. You have to be aware of what your neighbors are doing too, just like with forest fires. Right now an infamous local court case is still going on, where over 30 people died in a converted warehouse art venue fire. Artistes can be extremely careless about safety issues.