First off, fires can obviously happen anywhere: in the home, at work, or on the road. It’s important to have the right type of fire extinguisher handy to protect people and property when there is a fire. With so many choices, however, how do you choose the right fire extinguisher for your requirements? In this article, we do a brief guide on how to choose fire extinguisher types based on your fire risks, fire rating types, and sizes.
Identifying Your Fire Risks
The first thing to do is figure out what sorts of fires are most likely to take place in your environment. Different types of fires are to be put out by specific types of fire extinguishers. It enables you to see your potential fire hazards, which will help you choose the right extinguisher.
Common Fire Risks
Most fire risks fall into one of these categories:
- Ordinary combustibles – Materials like wood, paper, fabric, rubber, and plastics. Kitchen fires often involve these types of fuels.
- Flammable liquids – Fuels like gasoline, oil, paint, tar, and cooking grease. Risks include stored gasoline, oil-fired boilers, and deep fryers.
- Electrical equipment – Electrical appliances, tools, machinery, and wiring. Risks include overheated electronics and appliances and damaged cords.
So, think about what materials are present and what scenarios might lead to a fire emergency.
Fire Extinguisher Types
Modern fire extinguishers use symbols and pictures indicating which fire types they can handle. Older models use colored symbols.
- Class A – Ordinary combustibles
- Class B – Flammable liquids
- Class C – Electrical equipment
- Class D – Combustible metals
- Class K – Cooking oils and fats
For home use, multi-purpose (ABC) extinguishers cover most needs.
Understanding Ratings
Check the fire extinguishers UL rating to compare the extinguishing effectiveness. These ratings gauge how much fire the extinguisher can put out.
Class A and B: C Ratings
The rating system uses:
- Class A (1-40 number) – Equivalent extinguishing ability to water in gallons
- Class B (Number preceding B) – Size of fire in square feet that the extinguisher can handle
- C – Safe for use on electrically charged equipment
So a 4A:80B: C extinguisher performs as well as 4 gallons of water on a Class A fire and can extinguish a Class B fire up to 80 square feet large.
What the Ratings Mean
Higher numbers indicate more extinguishing power. Use the ratings to match the extinguisher to the expected fire size and intensity for your environment.
Selecting the Proper Size
With fire extinguishers, size matters. An extinguisher must be large enough to be useful but not too heavy to operate.
Common Sizes
Popular fire extinguisher sizes include:
- 10-pound – Large warehouses, garages, workshops
- 5-pound – Offices, apartment buildings
- 2-pound – Vehicles
Choosing Your Size
The weight, discharge time, and extinguishing capacity of the extinguisher shall be considered. Select a size based on:
- Square footage of your space
- Typical fire types and sizes
- People available to use extinguishers number
Using Your Extinguisher Properly
All the extinguishers are worth considering, but whichever you choose, always bear in mind that you will need to understand how to use them. Ensure that you and your staff are trained on the correct fire extinguisher operation. Misusing an extinguisher may make a fire worse.
Teach everyone in your household or workplace the PASS method:
- Pull the pin.
- Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire.
- Squeeze the handle to release the extinguishing agent.
- Sweep the nozzle from side to side until the fire is out.
Conclusion
To pick the right fire extinguisher, you need to know what the fire risks you are likely to encounter will be, the size and capacity of the extinguisher, and the extinguisher ratings. Choose an ABC-rated multi-purpose unit to suit your position. Make sure you do safety training on using your extinguisher and get safety training on how to use your extinguisher. But it doesn’t have to be that way: if you properly prepare, you will be able to keep your people and property safe, even when disaster strikes.