All fire extinguishers are not alike! As the law rerquires for all commercial buildings & workplaces to have fire extinguishers in common areas, visible and accessible, you need to know the right fire extinguisher to have, to achieve true safety for your place of work. But equally important is to make certain that you have the correct extinguisher installed applicable to the fire hazards that may occur in your environment. Education on the proper fire extinguisher for your building is essential & that's where 3 Alarm Fire & Safety can help! Along with the knowledge to lead you to the proper fire extinguisher for your potential emergency, we also offer a training program
where we can train your staff as to the proper way to extinguish any fire quickly & effectively!
There are a variety of classes of fire extinguishers for different elements of fire based on the chemistry or the origin of a fire. Use the wrong one, and your fire may likely continue to spread vs being extinguished!
Understanding
fire extinguisher classes
will help in knowing which fire extinguisher is right for your circumstances.
There are four classes of fire extinguishers – A, B, C and D – and each class can put out a different type of fire.
Class A extinguishers will put out fires like your basic combustibles such as wood and paper
Class B extinguishers are for use on flammable liquids like grease, gasoline and oil
Class C extinguishers are suitable for use only on electrically energized fires
Class ABC extinguishers are Dry Chemical use, a more common extinguisher for it's multi-purpose use. It can me used on A, B & C because of the specially designed chemical makeup in the powered used.
Class D extinguishers are designed for use on flammable metals such as titanium, zirconium, magnesium, or sodium.
Class K extinguishers are especially used in kitchens where you may come across what many refer to as grease fires, vegetable oils or fats but also can be used for gas fires.
** Multipurpose extinguishers can be used on different types of fires and will be labeled with more than one class, like A-B, B-C or A-B-C.
The concept behind portable fire extinguishers is that the fire can be extinguished by removing any one or more of the elements that help to spread the fire, with the proper chemistry, you can quickly put an end to an escalating hazard!