By Jody Record, Media Relations

Forget about fighting fire with fire. At UNH, it’s fought with prevention.

National standards call for certain university departments, including Culinary Arts, the science labs in Parsons Hall, and Health Services, to undergo annual refresher courses on the dos and don’ts of fire safety. Included in the training is hands-on instruction on how to operate one of the 1,250 fire extinguishers located in campus buildings.

Using a fire extinguisher is simple. Just remember the acronym PASS: Pull the pin, Aim the hose, Squeeze the handle and use a Sweeping motion to spray the fire.

It takes Phil Beaudoin, a UNH life safety equipment mechanic, about 2 1/2 weeks each month to make his way through the inspection of the 1,000-plus extinguishers. Then he has a week and a half to do refills and replacements, assist in training exercises, and complete any other safety procedures that need doing before he starts the practice all over again.

“I would like to see as many people as possible go through the training. I think it would be good for the University,” Beaudoin says. “In an emergency, we recommend anyone who hasn’t had the training not try to use a fire extinguisher but just get out. Smoke is the biggest killer and we don’t want people wasting time in a fire.”

Durham Fire Inspector Brendan O’Sullivan says they will provide training for any department on campus as well as any Durham resident or business. The session includes watching a video, classroom discussion and the practice with the fire extinguishers.

“We’re available to anyone, any department, business—you name it,” O’Sullivan says. “The more people who know what to do in case of a fire, the better.”