Notice to Portable Fire Extinguisher Personnel

CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER Department of Safety Fire Department Fire Prevention and Investigation Division

P.O. Box 40385 Denver, CO 80204 p: 720.913.3474 f: 720.913.3587

January 15, 2009

N O T I C E

TO: Portable Fire Extinguisher Inspection, Maintenance and Testing Personnel

FROM: Robert Manek, Program Coordinator Department of Safety - Fire Safety Licensing Program [email protected]

SUBJECT: “VERIFICATION OF SERVICE” COLLARS

Virtually all fires are small at first and might be extinguished easily if the proper type and amount of extinguishing agent were applied promptly. Portable fire extinguishers are designed for this purpose, but their successful use depends on several conditions, including that they must always be in good working condition.

Because fire extinguishers are required by Denver’s Fire Code to protect life and property, there should be no doubt as to their reliability or safe use in an emergency. One of the largest problems we encounter is among dry-chemical extinguishers in which the powdered chemical agent has clumped up because moisture has been allowed to enter.

In order to verify that the portable fire extinguisher valve has actually been removed for teardown, Denver Fire Code Section 906.2.1 requires all extinguishers that have been recharged or undergone internal examination to be identified with a Denver Fire Department “verification of service” collar. This collar is a donut-shaped aluminum or polyethylene ring that fits around the neck of the extinguisher body tightly enough so that it cannot be attached or removed without taking off the extinguisher’s valve assembly. Although the collar tells you only that the valve has been removed, it prevents a once-common practice called “rag and tag, in which an unscrupulous person or firm would just tag the extinguisher without performing any service. Another devious practice we have seen, albeit rarely, is just slicing the collar with a razor blade, removing it and slipping a new collar on, and then taping the new collar together.

With the “verification of service” collar system, it is more likely that the internal examination will be performed, since the valve must be removed to get the old collar off and the new one on. This system allows Denver Fire Department inspectors to verify, with a quick visual check, that an extinguisher has been disassembled for maintenance. The “verification of service” collar bears the date (month and year) on which the most recent full maintenance was performed. This requirement does not apply to extinguishers that use a separate cartridge or cylinder to provide discharge pressure. Notice to Portable Fire Extinguisher Personnel January 15, 2009 Page 2

“Verification of service” collars will be available in the third-floor Fire Prevention and Investigation Division offices in the Denver Fire Department Headquarters Building at 745 Colfax Avenue beginning February 1, 2009. The cost is as follows:

SIZE COST PER COLLAR COST PER COLLAR (Quantity of 100 or more) 1.375” $.60 $.50 1.75” .68 .58 2.125” .70 .60 3” .75 .65

For additional information, please contact Robert Manek, Fire Safety Licensing Program Coordinator, at 720-913-3465 or Mimi Saylor, Division Office Manager at 720-913-3461.

:ms (Fire Ext Collars – 1-15-09)