Buying a fire extinguisher

When you own property or rent you want to protect your property from any threats. One of the most damaging threats you can encounter is a fire. I hope you are never have to face a fire in your home but if you do you will need a fire extinguisher to have any chance to put out the fire. Which one do you need? What kind? How big? There is a difference when you are purchasing a fire extinguisher for your home and buying an extinguisher for a much larger structure.  The recommendation is to have at least one fire extinguisher for each floor of the home but you need to know the differences between the fire extinguishers.

The fire extinguisher classes are separated into four categories the picture associated with the class letter will help you remember what type of extinguisher is for what type of fire.

Class A is used for combustible material a few examples would be paper, wood, cardboard, and some plastics. The symbol will be a burning trash can or wood burning green in color.

Class B this is used for liquid for fires a few examples are gasoline, kerosene, grease and oil. The symbol will be a liquid gas can pouring out and will be red. 

Class C is for any electrical fire such as wiring, circuit breakers, light switch and outlets. The symbol is picture of a burning outlet and will be blue. The extinguishing agent in a class C is a nonconductive Never use a water extinguisher to put out an electrical fire.

Class D this is for metal fires like magnesium, titanium, potassium and sodium. The symbol sometimes a star or a picture of metal burning it will be gold in color.

There are other fire extinguisher for more advance type of fires such as Class K which is used for cooking oils or trans fats type of fire, water extinguisher air pressure water for class A fires only, dry chemical which is a foam powder is used to put out class A, B and C type of fires and CO2 extinguisher for class B and C type of fires.  However the chances of you needed these types of fire extinguisher for the home is highly unlikely.

So now that you know what class is for what type of fire what size do you need? The size is in pounds so a ten pound fire extinguisher would be for like a garage, a five pound would be good for a kitchen. When you mount the fire extinguisher choose you location wisely. You may want to consider mounting near the exit or in some general location away from the possible hazard so it is easily accessible for use.

I hope this post was helpful please leave a comment below.

Mark Carvajal