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Fire Extinguishers Fire extinguishers Are fire extinguishers really meant to hold doors open?.
Fire Extinguishers have different "contents" depending on what type of fire they are to extinguish. Different types of fire? Yes, although fire is fire, it depends on what is the fuel and what is present as to what extinguisher you use. Although they are all now red they often have a coloured band denoting what they can be used on. New extinguishers should conform to BS EN 3, which requires that the entire body of the extinguisher be coloured red. A zone of colour of up to 5% of the external area can be used to identify the contents using the old colour coding shown below.
Black is carbon dioxide, which can be used on electrical fires Blue is dry powder which can be used on electrical fires and burning liquids and is also safe for most combustible materials, but not ideal for paper, fabric or wood Red is water and is ideal for paper wood and fabric, it should NEVER be use on electrical fires Cream / yellow is foam and is designed for flammable liquids (petrol, oil, fat etc) Green is Bromochlorodiflouromethane (its a CFC) and has been banned. Never wait until there is a fire to find out how an extinguisher works read its operating instructions now. It may save your life Did you know you can make a simple fire extinguisher using vinegar and washing soda crystals?
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