subject: Fire Extinguishers [print this page] Fire extinguishers are important safety devices needed to be around homes, offices and even in the cars. In the event of fire, lives can be saved and considerable damage can be reduced if fire extinguishers are applied immediately. However, it is important to know the cause of break of fire to determine the right kind of the fire extinguisher you require to control the fire. Right kind of fire extinguisher can only prevent the fire from spreading. In fact, wrong fire extinguisher can be dangerous as it may help spread the fire more instead of reducing it and it can potentially harm lives.
There are different types of fire extinguishers designed for different types of fires. Fire extinguishers are rated according to the fire class which makes it easy to determine if a certain type of fire extinguishers is appropriate for a certain type of task.
Class A fire extinguishers are the basic and the most common type of fire extinguishers. These fire extinguishers are applied at Class A fires. This kind of fire requires just simple water to put it off as there are ordinary combustibles like paper, wood, cardboard caught in it. Class A fire extinguishers have simple water filled at high pressure. They work by covering everything in fire by water and stopping the oxygen supply. Different fire extinguishers have different pressure of the water.
A fire involving flammable combustibles like oil, grease, gasoline or others is rated as Class B fire. Water is not the solution to reduce this kind of fire as water can cause to scatter the fire all around. For this, Class B fire extinguishers are used which are filled with a chemical mixture. It is indicated on the exterior of fire extinguisher how many square feet it can cover. Class K is the subclass of Class B fire which is referred to Kitchen fires.
Electrical fires are rated as Class C fires. Class C fire extinguishers smother the fire with non-conductive retardants. Water can not be used at all in case of these fires as it may give you electrical shock. You must have this fire extinguisher in your car or at the places where there is large number of electrical equipments are present. Class D fire extinguishers are used for fires involving flammable metals. They are recommended to be used in laboratories or manufacturing units.
It is most important understand the use of fire extinguisher you have in your home and it should be readily available. All the members of family and employees at office should know their location and meanings of ratings.
