> They pulled the seat padding back and saw a mobile phone trapped in the seat mechanism and doused the phone with several bursts from a dry powder fire extingu

> They pulled the seat padding back and saw a mobile phone trapped in the seat mechanism and doused the phone with several bursts from a dry powder fire extinguisher as they feared using water could cause further problems as the seat’s mechanism was electrically-powered. We are nearly at the time when it is time to start recommending using water on electrical fires. It used to be a bad idea due to the risk of electrical shock - water can be conductive, and you might get an electric shock while dousing water on a fire involving live electronics. However, things have changed. Most residential buildings (at least in europe) have every circuit protected by an RCD, meaning that adding water will cause the circuit to automatically switch off (good!). Flames are also decent conductors, so most electrical things on fire will already have their circuit tripped when you find them. And finally, low voltage systems (battery powered devices) generally don't have enough volts to cause any harm anyway. Electric cars will generally auto-disable any high voltage circuits when fire is detected. Water fire extinguishers are safer to use around people (non-toxic) and on people (puts out burning clothes), and better for building escape (can temporarily cool a burning wall long enough to run along a corridor to get to an exit) However - there is still risk from water on electrical fires in 30+ year old wiring where RCD's might not be installed.