Inside my CHU (containerized housing unit) there is a big two-foot long arrow pointing down to the red fire extinguisher hung by the door. Every CHU has one. And it is a good thing too.
There are so many ways things can catch fire out here. For FOBBITs like myself, fire is one of the biggest dangers we face–besides getting hit by a truck. We can put too many power plugs into the wall sockets–there are only 3, per CHU. Then there is the converters to bring the 220 power to 110…the converter in my office was literally smoking when I was making coffee yesterday–that converter is now gone. And there are normal things that could cause fire–light bulbs, wires next to bedspreads, normal wear and tear–the things they warn us about in grade school. Fire is a big threat.
But, as everything in Iraq; if it goes bad, it goes really bad. So fire is nothing to play with. So the Army, provides every CHU with it’s own fire extinguisher.
So what’s the point? I was laying on my bed trying to think of something to write about…and there it was: my big ugly fire extinguisher…it would have so much cooler if the Army had provided a neon sign to point to the big red bottle. Yeah, it is good that we have them–but you definitely can’t miss it. It’s huge! I guess the fire truck in every CHU would be a little much. So that is a little picture of life in Iraq–the trusty fire extinguisher. Very important when you need it, but kind of bulky when you don’t.
BW says
I found that mine fit perfectly in my ruck for the extra weight I wanted for my roadmarching/PT regimen.