Fire Extinguisher Information
All Banham's fire extinguishers meet with the BS EN 3 standard with the exception of wet chemical and chrome finished casings.
Fire Extinguisher Information Sheet
All our fire extinguishers, which have red casings, meet with the BS EN 3 standard with the exception of wet chemical.
Those other than water, have a band or circle of a second colour, covering between 5 and 10 percent of the surface area, which indicates the contents. The fire extinguishing performance is displayed on the casing using numbers and letters such as 13A, 55B. Chrome extinguishers do not meet with the BS EN 3 standard because of the colour of the casing.
The United Kingdom has six fire classes:
- Class A: fires involving organic solids such as paper and wood.
- Class B: fires involving flammable liquids and liquefiable solids.
- Class C: fires involving flammable gases.
- Class D: fires involving metals.
- Class F: fires involving cooking fat and oil.
- Electrical: fires involving electrical equipment.
Water: Class A
Water stored pressure extinguishers cool burning material by absorbing heat from the burning material. Effective on Class A fires, water has the advantage of being harmless, and relatively easy to clean up. These extinguishers are available in varies sizes: - 3 and 6 litre stored pressure with a water additive or 6 and 9 litre stored pressure extinguishers.
The case colour is solid red indicating water.
Dry Powder: Class A, B, C, & Electrical
Powder based fire extinguishers separate the four parts of the “fire tetrahedron”. This prevents the chemical reaction between heat, fuel and oxygen and halts the production of fire sustaining "free-radicals", thus extinguishing the fire.
This extinguisher is known as an "ABC" dry chemical fire extinguisher and can be used on class A, B,C, and Electrical fires. It receives its class A rating from the agent's ability to melt and flow at 177 °C (350 °F) thereby smothering the fire.
The client/responsible person should occasionally shake this type of extinguishers to help prevent the powder from settling.
The case colour is red with a blue band indicating powder.
Foam: Class A & B
This extinguisher type, which is generally applied to fuel fires, forms a frothy blanket or seal over the fire, thereby starving the fire of oxygen and cooling the fire through the evaporation of the water content in the foam. Unlike powder, foam can be used to progressively extinguish fires without flashback. Foam AFFF fire extinguishers (aqueous film forming foam) are the most common type of portable foam extinguisher and can be used on class A & B fires, which includes vapour suppression. The case colour is red with a cream band indicating foam.
Carbon Dioxide: Class B & Electrical
CO2 is a clean gaseous agent which displaces oxygen and cools the fire. This extinguisher is not intended for Class A fires as the high-pressure cloud of gas can scatter burning materials. It is also not suitable for use on fires which contain their own oxygen source, metals fires or cooking fat fires, making this extinguisher unsuitable for kitchen fires. It is, however, one of the best agents to use on a person who is on fire. They are labelled clean agents because they do not leave any residue after discharge which makes this extinguisher ideal for sensitive electronics and documents.
The case colour is red with a black band indicating CO2.
Wet chemical: Class A & F
Wet chemical fire extinguishers put out a fire by forming a soapy foam blanket over burning oil (saponification) and by cooling the oil below its ignition temperature. Generally used for class A and class F fires, this type of extinguisher is ideal for commercial kitchen cooking fat fires. This extinguisher type is not suitable for electrical fires.
The case colour is solid red with a canary yellow band indicating wet chemical.