Proving that anything can be made fashionable, French company, Fire Design, has turned traditional red extinguishers into pop-art masterpieces. They have combined fire safety with design. No longer will you have to hide the functional eye-sores underneath your kitchen sink again. When I first saw these designs, I immediately was reminded of the “Sex and the City” episode where a Hollywood actor wanted to buy a red fire extinguisher from Charlotte’s art gallery. While those could never be mistaken as gallery pieces, these stylish could easily be part of an exhibit.

According to statistics, France has one of the lowest percentages in the western world when it comes to households having smoking detectors. In fact, England (89%), Norway (98%), Canada (94%) and the US (95%) all tower over France’s statistic at 5%. Here are some other interesting factoids pertaining to home fires.

• 1 fire every 2 minutes
• 800 deaths and 10,000 victims every year
• 250,000 home fire insurance claims made every year
• 2nd most frequent cause of home accident death of children under the age of 5?
• 1 in 3 people in France will be victim of a fire during his/her lifetime ?
• 1 glass of water will put out a fire in the first minute, 1 bucket of water is needed in the 2nd minute, and 1 tank of water as of the 3rd minute.

Admittedly I’m not certain how effective these are during an actual full blown fire, I’m sure they are handy for putting out grease fires and other minor altercations before they get out of control. While pricey- they go for 95 Euros, roughly 140 USD- I definitely want one of these to grace my walls. Problem is, I just can’t figure which one to get. Any suggestions on which design I should get? I’m leaning towards some of the metallic designs but open to a few of the “pop-arty ones”. If you’re not drawn to any of their designs, you can customize your own fire extinguisher that suits your decor. Click here, to check out Fire Design’s website.

Here’s some official verbiage from Fire Design:

Fire design offers an exciting new range of fire extinguishers! The Fire design concept is unique in Europe. It offers a range of fire extinguishers designed for extinguishing outbreaks of fire and providing maximum protection for your family.

Once a fire starts, it can spread very quickly. This is why having a fire extinguisher to hand is essential. A Fire design extinguisher, together with a smoke detector, will help assure your and your family’s security. The Fire design range also offers you a large choice of designs, so you can choose the extinguisher that best matches the decoration of your home. Fire design extinguishers are unique in that they offer owners a range of guarantees and services previously unknown in the world of fire safety for private individuals.

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