ORLANDO, Fla. – One of the most important things Orange County Fire Rescue's Assistant Fire Marshal Inez Pressler wants people to know about extinguishing fires involves no formal training.
"When you are deciding to fight a fire, it is one extinguisher for one small fire and you only get one attempt," Pressler said. "So if you can't extinguish the fire within that one attempt, then you need to leave the home and you need to call 911."
In order to make that one attempt as effective as possible, Pressler said everyone who operates a fire extinguisher should be familiar with how to use one.
"There are steps that you have to follow and there's a specific order and technique in which you need to do them," Pressler said.
Those steps comprise the acronym PASS:
P - Pin. Pull the pin from the fire extinguisher.
A - Aim. Aim at the base of the fire.
S - Squeeze. Squeeze the lever.
S - Sweep. Sweep from side to side until the fire is extinguished.
Pressler said it is important to have an exit at one's back when fighting a fire. She also stressed that children should not be operating fire extinguishers, instead being taught an escape plan which includes calling 911.
Once a fire is extinguished, Pressler said, it's still necessary to leave the building.
"Call 911 and have them come and make sure that the fire's completely out and that it will not restart," Pressler said.