Fire Extinguisher 101

Originally Posted by erewen

Does anybody have any advise on the best way to discharge extinquishers? I was thinking about filtering throuh multiple layer of burlap sacks, but am really interested in hearing from someone with experience.

Best way is to discharge them is loaning them to a fire department or fire academy, so they can discharge them for firefighter training. Some fire departments have public fire education classes, where the general public can discharge extinguishers for training, too. They discharge the extinguisher during training, which depressurizes the cylinder and rids most of the agent (dry chemical powder, etc.). Contact your local fire departments and see if they are interested in borrowing the extinguishers for training. Also, see if there are any two year vocational colleges nearby, that have firefighter programs. A lot of firefighter training programs operate on a shoe string budget and would gladly use charged extinguishers for training.