Fire Extinguishers

3/3/2022 (Permalink)

Fire extinguishers help save lives!

Did you know there are different types of fire extinguishers used for different types of fires? It is important to know the different types of fires and extinguishers when taking measures to protect your loved ones.

Fires are classified according to the type of fuel that is burning…

Class A Fire – wood, paper, cloth, trash and, plastics. Class A fires typically produce ash when burning.  

Class B Fire – Flammable liquids: gasoline, oil, grease, acetone. Class B fires typically involve materials that boil or bubble.

Class C Fire – Electrical fires. Class C fires typically deal with electrical current.

Class D Fire – Metals such as potassium, sodium, aluminum and, magnesium. It takes special extinguishing agents like Metal-X and foam to fight Class D fires.

Fire extinguishers will list what class of fire it should be used for, as well as, have pictograms on them to help distinguish its intended use.

Air-Pressurized Water Extinguisher (APW) – These fire extinguishers are silver in color and are designed for Class A fires. They are partially filled with water and then with pressurized air. DO NOT use these extinguishers to attempt to extinguish flammable liquid fires or electrical fires as water may spread a flammable liquid fire and may cause electrocution while trying to extinguish an electrical fire.

Carbon Dioxide Extinguisher (CO2) – These fire extinguishers are red in color and are filled with non-flammable carbon dioxide gas under extreme pressure. It will have a hard horn and will not have a pressure gauge. CO2 extinguishers are designed for Class B and C fires only as they are made to displace oxygen and may not displace enough of it to put out a Class A fire.

Dry Chemical Extinguishers (DC) – These fire extinguishers come in different types and may be labeled with “ABC” or “BC”. These labels are designed to establish which types of fires can be put out with the specific extinguisher. They are filled with a fine yellow powder and pressurized with nitrogen. When used properly, the dust will separate the fuel from the oxygen in the air to put out the fire.

Call Us Today

SERVPRO^® of Southern Delaware County & West Chester wants residents and business owners to know that we have the training and state-of-the-art equipment to respond to any fire damage emergency. We will clean and restore your fire damage “Like it never even happened.”

Call (484) 841-6669