Types, Use & Colours of Portable Fire Extinguishers

Before you need to use a fire extinguisher read the label to make sure you fully understand
the type of fire extinguisher it is. Also the type of fires it is appropriate and safe to use on.
Water and foam based extinguishers should not be used on fires involving an electrical
hazard, unless the power supply has been isolated, this is because the operator may receive
a fatal electric shock.
Before you can operate most extinguishers you are required to remove the safety pin, the
only exceptions are hose reels, fire blankets and fire buckets. With hose reels you may have
open a water valve before it can be used. Make sure before you tackle a fire you are
between the fire and exit or escape route.

Water Spray Fire Extinguisher

Colour: Signal Red.
Best For: Fires involving organic solid materials such as wood,
cloth, paper, plastics, Coal etc. Size for size, it offers up
to 300% more fire fighting capability than traditional jet
type water fire extinguishers.
Danger: Do not use on burning fat or oil or on electrical
appliances.
How to Use: Point the jet at the base of the flames and keep it
moving across the area of the fire. Ensure that all areas
of the fire are out.
How it Works: Water has a great effect on cooling the fuel surfaces
and thereby reducing the pyrolysis rate of the fuel.
Instead of a jet nozzle a spray nozzle is used, with a
higher pressure, which creates a fine spray. This allows
for a given quantity of water to have a considerable
increase in the surface area presented to the fire. This
makes extinguishing more efficient by more rapid
extraction of heat, formation of steam etc. They can
also contain surfactants which help the water penetrate
deep into the burning material which increase the
effectiveness of the extinguisher.

Types, Use & Colours of Portable Fire Extinguishers Page 1 of 8

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Water Fire Extinguisher
Colour: Signal Red.
Best For: Fires involving organic solid materials such as wood,
cloth, paper, plastics, Coal etc.
Danger: Do not use on burning fat or oil or on electrical
appliances.
How to Use: Point the jet at the base of the flames and keep it
moving across the area of the fire. Ensure that all areas
of the fire are out.
How it Works: Water has a great effect on cooling the fuel surfaces
and thereby reducing the pyrolysis rate of the fuel.

Water Mist Fire Extinguisher (Dry Water Mist)

Colour: Signal Red on white background.
Best For: The first broad spectrum extinguisher to tackle A rated
risks as well as fats, deep fat fryers (Class F). Can also
be safely used on electrical fires of up to 35000V.
Danger: Not suitable for gas fires.
How to Use: Point the jet at the base of the flames and keep it
moving across the area of the fire. Ensure that all areas
of the fire are out. The fire draws the microscopic water
particles into the fire.
How it Works: Water is turned into microscopic particles in the
supersonic nozzle. The water mist is drawn to the fire
where it cools and suffocates the fire.

Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher (Multi-Purpose)

Colour: Blue.
Best For: Can be used on fires involving organic solids, liquids
such as grease, fats, oil, paint, petrol, etc. but not on
chip or fat pan fires.
Danger: Safe on live electrical equipment, although does not
penetrate the spaces in equipment easily and the fire
may re-ignite. This type of extinguisher does not cool
the fire very well and care should be taken that the fire
does not flare up again.
Smouldering material in deep seated fires such as
upholstery or bedding can cause the fire to start up
again. Do not use on domestic chip or fat pan fires.

Types, Use & Colours of Portable Fire Extinguishers Page 2 of 8

PEL Services Ltd. Belvue Business Centre, Belvue Road, Northolt, Middlesex, UB5 5QQ.
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 How to Use: Point the jet or discharge horn at the base of the flames
and, with a rapid sweeping motion, drive the fire
towards the far edge until all the flames are out. If the
extinguisher has a shut-off control wait until the air
clears and if you can still see the flames, attack the fire
again.
How it Works: Similarly to almost all extinguishing agents the powders
acts as a thermal ballast making the flames too cool for
the chemical reactions to continue. Some powders also
provide a minor chemical inhibition, although this effect
is relatively weak. These powders thus provide rapid
knockdown of flame fronts, but may not keep the fire
suppressed.

Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher (Standard)

Colour: Blue.
Best For: Liquids such as grease, fats, oil, paint, petrol etc. but
not on domestic chip or fat pan fires.
Danger: Safe on live electrical equipment, although does not
penetrate the spaces in equipment easily and the fire
may re-ignite. This type of extinguisher does not cool
the fire very well and care should be taken that the fire
does not re-ignite. Do not use on domestic chip or fat
pan fires.
How to Use: Point the jet or discharge horn at the base of the flames
and, with a rapid sweeping motion, drive the fire
towards the far edge until all the flames are out. If the
extinguisher has a shut-off control wait until the air
clears and if you can still see the flames, attack the fire
again.
How it Works: Similarly to almost all extinguishing agents the powders
acts as a thermal ballast making the flames too cool for
the chemical reactions to continue. Some powders also
provide a minor chemical inhibition, although this effect
is relatively weak. These powders thus provide rapid
knockdown of flame fronts, but may not keep the fire
suppressed.

Types, Use & Colours of Portable Fire Extinguishers Page 3 of 8

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Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher (Special Powders)
Colour: Blue.
Best For: These specialist powder extinguishers are designed to
tackle fires involving combustible metals such as
lithium, magnesium, sodium or aluminium when in the
form of swarf or powder.
There are three special powders based on graphite,
copper and sodium chloride.
Danger: Do not allow water to come in contact with the burning
metal and the powder must be gently applied. Sodium
Chloride is not recommended for Lithium.
How to Use: The lance enables the user to tackle fire at a safe
distance and the low velocity applicator to reduce the
energy of the jet allowing the powder to gently smother
the surface of the burning material thus avoiding
scattering of high temperature particles and stimulating
the formation of a crust. The method of application is
completely different from a standard extinguisher and
user training is required. They are not suitable for use
on live electrical fires.
How it Works: This extinguisher works by forming a crust which
insulates the metal to prevent access to other
combustible material nearby and smothering the fire to
prevent oxygen from the atmosphere reacting with the
metal.

Foam Fire Extinguisher (AFFF)

Colour: Cream (Aqueous film-forming foam) (multi-purpose).
Best For: Fires involving solids. Liquids such as grease, fats, oil,
paint, petrol, etc. but not on domestic chip or fat pan
fires. Can also be used on class A fires.
Danger: Do not use on domestic chip or fat pan fires.
How to Use: For fires involving solids, point the jet at the base of the
flames and keep it moving across the area of the fire.
Ensure that all areas of the fire are out. For fire
involving liquids, do not aim the jet straight into the
liquid. Where the liquid on fire is in a container, point
the jet at the inside edge of the container or on a
nearby surface above the burning liquid. Allow the foam
to build up and flow across the liquid.

Types, Use & Colours of Portable Fire Extinguishers Page 4 of 8

PEL Services Ltd. Belvue Business Centre, Belvue Road, Northolt, Middlesex, UB5 5QQ.
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 How it Works: They are mainly water based, with a foaming agent so
that the foam can float on top of the burning liquid and
break the interaction between the flames and the fuel
surface.

Foam Fire Extinguisher (Standard)

Colour: Cream.
Best For: Fires involving solids. Liquids such as grease, fats, oil,
paint, petrol, etc. but not on domestic chip or fat pan
fires. Can also be used on class A fires. Less effective
than AFFF foam.
Danger: Check manufacturer’s instructions for suitability of use
on other fires involving liquids. These extinguishers are
generally not recommended for home use.
How to Use: Do not aim jet straight into the liquid. Where the liquid
on fire is in a container, point the jet at the inside edge
of the container or on a nearby surface above the
burning liquid. Allow the foam to build up and flow
across the liquid.
How it Works: These are mainly water based, with a foaming agent so
that the foam can float on top of the burning liquid and
break the interaction between the flames and the fuel
surface.

Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguisher

Colour: Black.
Best For: Live electrical equipment when it is not possible to
isolate the electric supply and flammable liquids such
as grease, fats, oil paint, petrol etc. but not on domestic
chip or fat pan fires.
Danger: Do not use on domestic chip or fat pan fires. This type
of extinguisher does not cool the fire very well and you
need to watch that the fire does not start up again.
Fumes from CO2 extinguishers can be harmful if used
in confined spaces: ventilate the area as soon as the
fire has been controlled.
How to Use: The discharge horn should be directed at the base of
the flames and the jet kept moving across the area of
the fire.

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 How it Works: Carbon dioxide extinguisher works on classes B and C
and works by suffocating the fire. Carbon dioxide will
not burn and displaces air.

Wet Chemical Fire Extinguisher

Colour: Canary Yellow.
Best For: The specialist wet chemical extinguishers are ideal for
Class F fires, involving cooking oils and fats, such as
lard, olive oil, sunflower oil, maize oil and butter.
Danger: Check manufacturer’s instructions for suitability of use.
These extinguishers are not recommended for class B
fires and home use.
How to Use: Apply the wet chemical using the extended applicator in
slow circular movements, which give a gentle, yet
highly effective application. Apply the fine spray onto
the burning fat until the surface of the burning cooking
oil changes into a soapy like substance, this then
prevents re-ignition. The gentle application helps
prevent hot oil splashing onto the user.
How it Works: Most class F extinguishers contain a solution of
potassium acetate, sometimes with some potassium
citrate or potassium bicarbonate. The extinguishers
spray the agent out as a fine mist. The mist acts to cool
the flame front, while the potassium salts saponify the
surface of the burning cooking oil, producing a layer of
foam over the surface. This solution thus provides a
similar blanketing effect to a foam extinguisher, but with
a greater cooling effect. The saponification only works
on animal fats and vegetable oils, so class F
extinguishers cannot be used for class B fires. The
misting also helps to prevent splashing the blazing oil.
Tests have established that a 6 litre extinguisher is
capable of extinguishing a fire in a 75 litre capacity
deep fat fryer. The extinguisher is easy to use
producing a gentle but highly effective spray.

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Fire Blanket
Fire Blanket Fire blankets are made of fire resistant materials. They are particularly useful for
smothering flammable liquid fires or for wrapping round a person whose clothing is on fire.
Fire blankets conforming to British Standard BS EN 1869: 1997 are suitable for use in the
home BS 7944: 1999 is suitable for industrial use. These will be marked to show whether
they should be thrown away after use or used again after cleaning in accordance with the
manufacturer’s instructions.
Best For: Fires involving both solids and liquids. Particularly good
for small fires in clothing and for domestic or
commercial chip and fat pan fires provided the blanket
completely covers the fire.
Danger: If the blanket does not completely cover the fire, it will
not be able to extinguish the fire.
How to Use: Place carefully over the fire. Keep your hands shielded
from the fire. Do not waft the fire towards you.
How it Works: Smothers the fire, prevent oxygen getting to the fire.

Fire Hose Reel

Best For: Fires involving organic solid materials such as wood,
cloth, paper, plastics, coal etc.
Danger: Do not use on burning fat or oil or on electrical
appliances before the electric supply has been isolated.
How to Use: Point the jet at the base of the flames and keep it
moving across the area of the fire. Ensure that all areas
of the fire are out.
How it Works: Water has a great effect on cooling the fuel surfaces
and thereby reducing the pyrolysis rate of the fuel

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PEL Services Ltd. Belvue Business Centre, Belvue Road, Northolt, Middlesex, UB5 5QQ.
Tel. 020 8839 2100 Fax. 020 8841 1948 [email protected] www.pel.co.uk
Fire Buckets
A simple bucket of water can be used on Class A type of fires either to supplement a water
extinguisher or as a first attack if an extinguisher is not immediately available. It also can be
filled with dry sand and used as an absorbing agent or to dam a flow of flammable liquid.
They do have serious disadvantages as they are often misused, left empty, or allowed to be
used as a refuse container.
Best For: Wood, Cloth, Paper, Plastics, Coal etc. Fires involving
solids.
Danger: Do not use on burning fat or oil or on electrical
appliances before the electric supply has been isolated.
How to Use: Throw at the base of the flames and keep it moving
across the area of the fire. Ensure that all areas of the
fire are out.
How it Works: Water has a great effect on cooling the fuel surfaces
and thereby reducing the pyrolysis rate of the fuel.

Types, Use & Colours of Portable Fire Extinguishers Page 8 of 8

PEL Services Ltd. Belvue Business Centre, Belvue Road, Northolt, Middlesex, UB5 5QQ.
Tel. 020 8839 2100 Fax. 020 8841 1948 [email protected] www.pel.co.uk