Hand Portable Extinguishers

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Why are hand portable extinguishers important?

Hand portable extinguishers are considered the first line of defense for incipient fires in most homes and workplaces. Different sorts of fires require different effects, which are explained below.

Stored Pressure Extinguishers

Stored pressure fire extinguishers are some of the most common on the market. In this type of extinguisher, the expellant is stored in the same chamber as the firefighting agent.

The most common types of stored pressure extinguishers include:

ABC Dry Chemical

ABC dry chemical extinguishers are the most frequently used types to extinguish many common fires.

BC Dry Chemical

Suitable for use on flammable liquids and energized electrical equipment, BC dry chemical extinguishers are typically used in areas with liquid fuel fire hazards.

Cartridge Operated Extinguishers

Cartridge operated extinguishers contain the expellant gas in a separate cartridge that is punctured prior to discharge, exposing the propellant to the extinguishing agent. They typically provide a high rate of flow for dry chemicals, making them the tool of choice to meet demands of NFPA 10, section 5.5.1 and 5.5.3 for tough Class B fires, including pressure fires, gravity fed fires and obstacle fires.

Cartridge fire extinguishers are Field Rechargeable, robust design, and have a Hi Flow rate of dry chemical to provide fire suppression power in the toughest applications. These units also have specialized powders available for hi risk fuel fires and Metal fires.

Special Application Extinguishers

Clean Agent extinguishers contain various environmentally friendly, non-residue forming chemicals well-suited for flammable liquids and energized electrical equipment.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Extinguishers are used for class B flammable liquids fires as well as Class C Electrical fires.

Pressurized Water is used for Class A fires only.

Water Mist is a useful extinguisher for Class A fires and where a potential Class C (electrical) hazard exists.

K-Class and F-Class extinguishers (for restaurant kitchen hazards)
Class D agents (for combustible metals such as magnesium, sodium, potassium, lithium and uranium)
Foam which is recommended for use on Class A combustibles and Class B flammable liquids.