An American visitor died when a fire extinguisher exploded during a fire at a west Dublin hotel and he was struck by flying metal, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday. The inquest also heard that in temperatures over 500 degrees centigrade the type of extinguisher involved could explode.Mr Patrick Mulcahy (39), a married man with two children, of North Andover, Boston, was on a business trip to Ireland when the accident happened at the CityWest Hotel and Golf Complex on October 25th last.He was playing golf when a fire broke out in the roof of the hotel attached to the golf course. He was some distance away from the hotel watching the fire when he was struck by part of a fire extinguisher which had exploded.A consultant engineer, Mr John A. Butler, said he examined a number of fire extinguishers of the type which struck Mr Mulcahy and found there was an increased danger of the partly or fully discharged cylinders exploding. He added that all extinguishers should have pressure release valves.The jury returned a verdict of accidental death and added a rider that regulations should be introduced to ensure all fire extinguishers were fitted with pressure release valves.