If you run a business in Paducah, sooner or later the fire inspector or your insurance company is going to ask about your fire extinguishers. The schedule itself isn't the hard part. What most owners really want to know is what they're on the hook for, which parts their own people are allowed to handle, which parts need a certified tech, and what paperwork they're supposed to keep in the building.
That's what this article is about. If you're looking for the full rundown of when each kind of service comes due, we've written that up in how often fire extinguishers need to be inspected, so we won't walk back through the whole calendar here.
Where Kentucky's rules come from
Kentucky has its own fire code, which the state calls the Standards of Safety, and for portable extinguishers it builds on NFPA 10, the national extinguisher standard. NFPA 10 is the part that spells out how an extinguisher gets checked, serviced, and kept up. The state code and your local inspector decide how that gets applied to your building, and an inspector can always ask for more than the minimum.
So the details for your building come from the state and the city, not from us. What we can tell you is how the work splits up and what the state rules say about the owner's part.
What your own people are allowed to do
Kentucky's rules let the owner, or somebody the owner puts in charge, inspect the extinguishers in the building. In practice, that means the monthly check, which is a quick look at each extinguisher to make sure it's charged, that you can get to it, and that the hose isn't blocked or damaged.
This is the part that slides, usually because nobody was ever told it was their job. Pick one person, like a maintenance lead or an office manager, and make the monthly walk part of their routine, the same as checking the first aid kit. If a pallet is parked in front of one, they move the pallet. If the needle is out of the green or the pin is missing, they call us.
If you'd rather not put that on your staff, we can do the monthly walk for you. What matters is that it gets done and somebody writes it down.
What takes a certified tech
The hands-on work is a different story. Under NFPA 10, the yearly maintenance, any recharge, the six-year work, and the hydro test are done by a certified person. The work takes tools, agent, and training that most businesses don't keep around.
On the yearly visit, a tech handles every extinguisher, checks it over inside and out, weighs the ones that don't have a gauge, and makes sure each one is the right kind for what's around it. Every six years, stored-pressure dry chemical extinguishers are discharged and get an internal examination before they're recharged, and that means taking the valve off, which isn't something to try yourself. When the yearly work comes due, that's our fire extinguisher service in Paducah.
It's also fair to ask, on any extinguisher in your building, how do you know the work actually got done? After six-year work or a recharge, a new verification collar ring goes on under the valve, and it can only go on with the valve off. If you see a whole ring there, the work happened.
Whether the city of Paducah adds anything on top of the state rules about who has to do the yearly work is a question for the fire prevention office.
The paperwork to keep in the building
Under Kentucky's rules, the owner's inspection records stay on file in the building, and you don't send them to the State Fire Marshal. Keep the monthly log in one place, with the extinguisher locations, who checked them, and when, and keep it with the report from the last yearly visit.
We leave a report. That report, together with your monthly log, is what you show an inspector or an insurance adjuster when they ask whether the extinguishers have been kept up. Put both somewhere the next manager can find them. We keep up with the due date so you don't have to.
Having the right extinguisher in the right spot
Inspection is also about whether each extinguisher is the right one and close enough. NFPA 10 handles that two ways. The first is matching the extinguisher to what could burn, and we match the extinguisher to the hazard. The ABC extinguishers around a building work on grease, but a commercial cook line also gets a Class K. The second is how far somebody has to walk to reach one, and for ordinary hazards like paper, wood, and cardboard, that walking distance is commonly 75 feet under NFPA 10. Your inspector has the final say on what your building needs.
Your people are part of this too. Employees get extinguisher training when they start and every year after that, so they know where the extinguishers are and how to use one.
Our Paducah shop
Our Paducah shop is at 1333 N 8th St, and we've been family-owned since 1984. The techs are certified and licensed, and they come in a company truck and in uniform. We're licensed and fully insured. Your doors stay open while we inspect. We recharge on site when we can. Our trucks carry loaners. If an extinguisher has to come back to the shop, a loaner goes up in its place until yours is back.
Paducah questions
- Can our maintenance person do the monthly check?
- Yes. Kentucky's rules let the owner or somebody the owner puts in charge do it. It's a quick look at each extinguisher, and anybody can learn it.
- Do we have to send our records to the state?
- Under Kentucky's rules, the owner's records stay on file in the building instead of going to the State Fire Marshal. Keep them where an inspector can see them.
- Can we do the yearly service ourselves?
- Under NFPA 10, the yearly maintenance, recharges, six-year work, and hydro tests are done by a certified person, because the work takes tools, agent, and training.
- How do we get started?
- Call 1-800-348-9604 and tell us where the building is and about how many extinguishers you have.