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To know whats in a fire extinguisher may be more important than using it.
In the face of a sudden fire, a fire extinguisher can be your first line of defense
It is the easiest firefighting tool you may have.
But be careful, this may not be the safest tool.
In this post we will explore some of the fire extinguishers and what is inside them
But first we will explain how a fire can be extinguished.
How can a fire be extinguished
To ignite a fire, three elements must exist which are fuel, heat and oxygen.
So, in order to stop this fire we must remove one of these elements.
Fire can be extinguished either by cooling, starving or smothering
Each one of these mechanisms can deal with one of the fire elements.
We have to mention that the chemical reaction is the forth element for sure
This chemical reaction is the responsible for fire continuity
The idea of any fire extinguisher depends on one or more of these extinguishing methods.
Depending on whats in a fire extinguisher, we can understand its way to stop the fire.
Different types of fire extinguishers
The variety of fire extinguishers is a must to ensure covering all fire categories.
It is very important and crucial to select the proper fire extinguisher according to the fire hazard you have.
For example :
Carbon dioxide fire extinguishers
For electrical fires, CO2 extinguishers are used to replace the oxygen with CO2 in the fire zone
This helps in fire extinguishing and also it is released in very low temperature that cools the atmosphere.
Dry powder extinguishers
This can be used for almost every fire
It contains a chemical powder like sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate or monoammonium phospat.
And for nowadays, a mixture can be used to improve the flow and characteristics
You can check this post which mentioned some of the health hazards of inhaling this dry powder.
Water extinguishers
This extinguisher is good only for certain types of fires which can be extinguished by water.
Here comes the importance of knowing whats in a fire extinguisher
Ordinary fires like wood and paper can be extinguished by the coolant effect of water.
But using this water cannot be good for each fire type.
Because using water for hydrocarbon fires or electrical fires will make it worse.
Foam fire extinguishers
A very widely used fire extinguisher especially in oil and gas fields.
It contains either aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) or film-forming fluoro-protein (FFFP)
Both of them are forming a foam layer on the surface of a fire
This layer must be less dense than the flammable material to cover it.
AFFF is faster to spread on the surface,
while the FFFP foam blanket can withstand fire for longer time
A separate comparison post will be ready in days.
Wet chemical extinguishers
This is the most proper type for class K fires (kitchen oil fires)
It consists of water and an alkaline agent
This agent might be potassium acetate, potassium carbonate, potassium citrate, or a combination of these chemicals
It can form a foam layer on the oil surface with the visibility advantage
Also the water inside can lower the temperature of hot oil and fats to extinguish the fire.
As you see, when we are able to know what is in a fire extinguisher,
we can then select the proper fire extinguisher type for our fire hazards.
Also, we need to know the consequences of using improper type.
results of using improper fire extinguisher
As we just learned, the first step is to identify what is in a fire extinguisher.
This will help you to select the most proper and safe type.
In this section, we will just give some examples on what may happen when using improper fire extinguisher.
Imagine using water to extinguish an electrical fire.
The conductivity of water will make the situation worse.
The equipment will be damaged, the fire can turn to another stage
and also the firefighter will be in great danger of electrical shock.
Also, when using water to fight an oil fire a fire can spread.
Because the water is more dense than oil, this will make water sink under the ignited oil
Water then will act as a carrier to move the fire and spread it.
Another problem is that the water has a boiling point of 100 c
When we reach this point, boiled water which carries the fire will send fire balls to spread the fire more.
Another example of using extinguishers improperly, is when we use CO2.
But this time the problem is when the workers do not know its hazards.
CO2 is released in very low temperature.
This can cause severe skin damages for the workers in contact with the CO2
Also using it inside an enclosed space, will replace the air leading to asphyxiation.
The conclusion
- Always know whats in a fire extinguisher to select them properly
- Fire class plays the most important role in selecting the fire extinguisher.
- Remember that you can only fight a fire by breaking one or more of its arms.
- Also, safety equipment can harm
- Never use water in kitchen fires.
- An explosion can occur while you are fighting a fire.
- Always follow our topics to improve your safety skills.
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