We have a former employee getting married tomorrow July 22, 2006. His name is Rich Loch and his bride to be is Brooke Weis. The two are Lovelanders, and will be moving to Yuma Arizona where Rich is stationed in the US Marines. Rich is the son of Peggy, our wonderful cashier and “store mom”. He is a firefighter in the Marine Corps and plans on being a firefighter after he finishes his tour of duty. I have always admired firefighters, and was planning on becoming one when I was younger. I just never quite got around to it.

 

Anyway, ever wonder where a common item that you’ll see hanging around every building, the fire extinguisher, came from? In 1734 a German physician named Fuches invented an extinguisher that looked fun, but wasn’t very effective. His was a bag full of glass balls, each filled with a mixture of salt and water. The idea was to hurl the balls at the fire, where they would break and put the fire out. Actually sounds like fun, but the problem was that you’d need a bunch of people able to throw accurately to be of use.

 

In 1816 a British Army captain named George Manby invented a metal cylinder filled with water and  pearl-ash, propelled by compressed air. It worked, but sales died as quickly as a fire put out by his device. Fifty years later his basic design was revived and this time sales took off like wildfire. That basic design persists today. Dry chemicals are used in most extinguishers today, though some use a foam compound and a very few use halon gas.

 

I had a fire in my first car and no extinguisher. Since then I have never been in a car or a house without at least one. They’re simple to use, cheap to buy, and give a real nice feeling of security by having one nearby.

 

My hat’s off to both firefighters and to Marines. We’d certainly be in far worse world without them both. Best of luck to Brooke & Rich! Marriage is a great thing, and we all hope to see you in our store with your grandchildren someday, say 30 years from now! I hope the fire in your hearts never gets extinguished!

 

Thanks to Vince Staten for the extinguisher facts.

 

-Clark