The Importance of Fire Extinguisher

January 22, 2008 (Tuesday) was another day at work. It was 4:00 pm and everyone in production was in a rush to go home, as usual.

Isaac (the boss) and "Captain" Leland (the Operation Manager) were upstairs in their offices. I was in mine minding my own duties, when all of a sudden my friend/co-worker, Myrna, was flapping her arms calling my name. I looked up and I saw something bright orange glowing behind her -- a fire in our engraving office! It was engulfing the exhaust hose! I ran towards the fire and told Myrna to get the boss and Captain. But she continued to panic while trying to unhook the fire extinguisher and all the while still flapping her arms. So I told her to just go and get the boss while I unhook the fire extinguisher.

I never used a fire extinguisher before, so I really didn't know how to operate it. And I didn't have the time to stop and read the instruction either. The fire was reaching the ceiling fast. I feared that if it reached the second floor where boss and Captain were, they would be trapped because that's where the staircase is!!! So I was frantically asking myself -- "what to do, what to do?" All I know was what I saw from the movies -- pull the pin off first. I looked for the pin -- "where's the pin? where's the pin?" I found it, pulled it off and I went wild squeezing the trigger --- pzzzzzzzzzzt .... pzzzzzzzzzt ... pzzzzzzzzzt. Phew! The fire was out. And like in the movies, the hero saved the day while the rest of the crew came running in at the last minute just staring in awe. Ha ha! Anyways, Captain and boss came with Myrna looking worried and shocked. The first thing they said though was, "Look at her saving us from the fire; and she even knows how to use the fire extinguisher!" LOL!

When everyone came in to work the next day,  some say I should get a red carpet treatment or a cape even! Well, I don't need a red carpet or a cape. I'm just glad that the building was saved, nobody got hurt, and most of all, I finally learned how to use a fire extinguisher and how important it is to keep two or more at your vicinity.