You Shouldn’t Always Look for the Right Tool
March 15, 2007 · Print This Article
When I was 13 I set my room on fire for the first time. I had found an electric fan that I assumed had been wired together by my uncle (and electronics guru). When I plugged it in, there was a loud pop, some sparks and a flaming piece of the switch flew to the floor and started burning the carpet.
I took of running downstairs for the fire extinguisher in the kitchen. My mom (who happened to be in the room) calmly walked over and put the fire out by stepping on it. It turns out that the fan had been wired together by my 11 year old brother who had hooked a 12 volt automotive fan into regular household wiring cord with an automotive switch shorting the connection between the two wires.
Any way the point is that while my mom’s shoe was definitely not the perfect fire fighting tool, it was the best thing for the job. By the time I had gotten the fire extinguishers and then figured out how to turn it on, the fire would have spread on the carpet and done quite a bit more damage.
There are times where the best tool to use is the one that lets you accomplish the task immediately–even if it is slightly awkward to use.
Now one thing that most people don’t know is that there are 3 types of Fire Extinguishers. Well up here in Canada anyway, though I don’t see why the US or anywhere else would have totally different ones.
They are also rated A, B and C. Each one is meant for a different type of fire but the one that the majority of homes would have would be meant for all 3 type.
You wouldn’t use the liquid based one on an electrical fire kind of thing right?
Good point. I’m obviously not suggesting that every fire should be extinguished by getting a relative to step on it.
In this case the item was no longer plugged in and it was only the carpet that was burning.
My point is that sometimes people get so excited about using (or finding) the perfect tool for a particular problem. As they look for the right tool the problem gets bigger and they would be better off using whatever simple method is at their disposal to immediately solve the issue.
Good point about the fire extinguishers. There are different types and you can hurt yourself if you don’t know what you are doing.
I take it she had a lot of experience putting out electrical fires. It sound as though the whole family enjoyed creative wiring projects.
We could all learn from your mother. She focused on solving the PROBLEM, not on the SOLUTION.