Safety warning after woman killed by fire extinguisher

A woman who was delivering morning tea at her husband's business was killed when a fire extinguisher which her husband was working on, turned into a missile and killed her.

Tracy Joyce Uhlenberg of Eltham died when the faulty fire extinguisher took off like a missile and hit her in the head in April 2005, the Taranaki Daily News reported today.

A report by Hawera coroner Simon Shera, released seven months after the inquest, highlighted the dangers of do-it-yourself maintenance on cylinders under pressure.

The inquest was told the woman's husband, Darryl Uhlenberg, had been doing mechanical repairs to a fire extinguisher at his transport company's depot in Eltham.

The operating handle needed replacing and he had taken an old extinguisher out of storage and taken the handle off it.

Uhlenberg Haulage mechanic Malcolm Spencer said Mrs Uhlenberg arrived with morning tea and had wandered over to the workshop to let them know -- at that point, the old extinguisher went off.

The flying fire extinguisher hit Mr Spencer on the right ankle, breaking two bones.

He stood up, saw the deceased on the floor and saw her injuries were serious.

He had not seen the extinguisher before it hit him, as it had come from behind him.

Mr Uhlenberg said he walked back into the workshop after installing the old handle onto the bottle on the trailer and saw a cloud of gas. He heard the sound of gas discharging.

Mr Uhlenberg saw an object fly through the air and hit his wife in the side of the head.

Ambulance officers and a doctor were unable to resuscitate Mrs Uhlenberg.

Mr Shera found that the extinguishers had been modified by personnel without the appropriate training and knowledge to service them.

He recommended that out-of-service extinguishers should be fully discharged before being stored for parts.

- NZPA