A portable fire extinguisher is arguably one of the best, and cost-effective defenses against property damage from a fire. When used properly, portable fire extinguishers save lives and property by putting out small fire or containing one until the fire department arrives. At Flameguard Fire Equipment, Inc. we offer a full range of fire extinguisher products from the nation's leading manufacturer's; Amerex, Ansul, Badger, Buckeye, and PyroChem
Types & Sizes of Fire Extinguishers:
Portable Fire Extinguishers differ by the extinguishing agent they expel onto a fire. There are a wide variety of choices available based on the type of fire they will be fighting. Portable extinguishers are also rated for the size of fire they can handle. This rating is expressed as a number from
1 to 40 for Class A fires (Class A fire) and
1 to 640 for Class B (Class B fire) fires.
The "C" on the label indicates only that the unit can has been tested for use on electrical fires (Class C fires).
Extinguishers for Class D (Class D fires) must match the type of metal burning.
This rating will appear on the label—for example, 2410B:C. The larger the number, the larger the fire (of specified class) the extinguisher can handle. No number accompanies an extinguisher’s C rating. These extinguishers do not use numerical ratings. Extinguishers for Class D fires are labeled with a list detailing the metals that match the unit’s extinguishing agent.
Multi-Class Ratings
Many extinguishers available today can be used on different types of fires and will be labeled with more than on designator, e.g. A-B, B-C, or A-B-C. Make sure that if you have a multi-purpose extinguisher it is properly labeled. |
- Class A extinguishers are for ordinary combustible materials such as paper, wood, cardboard, and most plastics. The numerical rating on these types of extinguishers indicates the amount of water it holds and the amount of fire it can extinguish.
- Class B fires involve flammable or combustible liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, grease and oil. The numerical rating for class B extinguishers indicates the approximate number of square feet of fire it can extinguish.
- Class C fires involve electrical equipment, such as appliances, wiring, circuit breakers and outlets. Never use water to extinguish class C fires - the risk of electrical shock is far too great! Class C extinguishers do not have a numerical rating. The C classification means the extinguishing agent is non-conductive.
- Class D fire extinguishers are commonly found in a chemical laboratory. They are for fires that involve combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, potassium and sodium. These types of extinguishers also have no numerical rating, nor are they given a multi-purpose rating - they are designed for class D fires only.
Dry chemical fire extinguisher
The dry chemical fire extinguisher is the most widely used of all types of extinguishers. There are three basic types of dry chemical extinguishers, each of which has advantages and disadvantages based on the hazard. |
1) Regular dry chemical fire extinguishers use sodium bicarbonate as the extinguishing agent. The regular dry chemical fire extinguisher is effective on Class B & C fires.
2) ABC (or multi-purpose) fire extinguishers use ammonium phosphate as the extinguishing agent. The ABC fire extinguisher is effective on Class A, B, or C fires.
3) Purple K or potassium bicarbonate fire extinguishers are sometimes selected in lieu of regular dry chemical (sodium bicarbonate) extinguishers due to their greater fire extinguishing capabilities. Purple K extinguishers are effective on Class B & C fires.
Class K Wet Chemical fire extinguishers
Wet Chemical fire extinguishers are the best restaurant kitchen appliance hand portable extinguisher available. The new extinguishers are tested and approved for Class K fires. They contain a potassium acetate based, low PH agent that was originally developed for use in pre-engineered cooking equipment fire extinguishing systems. The Class K extinguishers are tested on commercial deep fat fryers using the same type of fire test as UL300 pre-engineered restaurant fire extinguishing systems. The agent discharges as a fine mist which helps prevent grease splash and fire reflash while cooling the appliance. The Class K extinguisher is the ideal choice for use on all cooking appliances including solid fuel char-broilers.
Carbon Dioxide extinguishers
Carbon Dioxide extinguishers contain pressurized liquid carbon dioxide, which turns to gas when expelled. The main advantage of CO2 fire extinguishers is that the agent does not leave residue after use. This may be of particular importance if the fire protection is needed in areas with sensitive electronic equipment. CO2 extinguishers are primarily effective on Class B or C fires. Some other typical applications are:
- Food preparation areas
- Laboratories
- Printing or duplicating are
CO2 extinguishers should never be used in confined spaces as the gas reduces the amount of oxygen in the area.
Class D fire extinguishers
As mentioned previously a Class D Fire is one that involves combustible metals or combustible metal alloys. There are basically two types of Class D fire extinguishers.
Type 1: The extinguishing agent for type 1 Class D is Sodium Chloride. The type 1 Class D extinguisher is effective at controlling magnesium, sodium, potassium, sodium potassium alloys, uranium, and powdered aluminum metal fires.
Type 2: The extinguishing agent for type 2 Class D is a copper based dry powder. The copper compounds smother the fire and provides an excellent heat sink for dissipating the heat of the fire.
Clean agent fire extinguishers
Like CO2 , clean agent fire extinguishers store agent as a liquid, which turns to gas when it hits the air. Clean agent extinguishers are effective on Class A, B, and C fires and will not conduct electricity back to the user. Clean agent extinguishers act to extinguish a fire by cooling and smothering it (without thermal shock to delicate electronic equipment). These extinguishers are EPA approved and have low global warming (or ozone depletion) potential. Some typical applications include:
- · Computer Rooms
- · Telecommunications Facilities
- · Clean Rooms
- · Data Storage Areas
- · Irreplaceable document and art storage rooms
- · Laboratories
- · Offices (for protection of sensitive electronic equipment)
- · Boats and Vehicles
- Water extinguishers or APW extinguishers (air-pressurized water) are suitable for class A fires only. Never use a water extinguisher on grease fires, electrical fires or class D fires - the flames will spread and make the fire bigger! Water extinguishers are filled with water and pressurized with oxygen. Again - water extinguishers can be very dangerous in the wrong type of situation. Only fight the fire if you're certain it contains ordinary combustible materials only.
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