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06/03/2025 • by Chris Bird
Protecting yourself and your property from fire starts with choosing the right safety equipment to invest in. Fire extinguishers allow you to maintain control over your fire safety by tackling the developing fire manually, minimising damage. However, not all fires behave the same and will need to be tackled with different types of fire extinguishers. Fire classifications exist to categorise the type of fire danger present. By understanding this system, you can quickly select the right extinguishing agent required to combat the fire.
From Water to Carbon Dioxide or Foam, there is a range of extinguishing agents available to create effective, targeted fire suppression. But with so many extinguisher types and fire classifications, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s where the Fire Protection Shop comes in! This blog will break down the different types of fire extinguishers, explain the different fire classifications, and outline the best extinguisher options you can invest in to achieve total fire safety.
In the UK, there are five main types of fire extinguishers: Water, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), ABC Powder, Wet Chemical and AFFF Foam.
It’s important to understand that some fire extinguishers are more versatile than others, and not every extinguisher is suitable for every fire class. For example, while dry powder extinguishers are highly effective in outdoor environments like construction sites, they can pose visibility and respiratory risks when used indoors. Similarly, water fire extinguishers are a reliable option for tackling Class A fires, but they are completely unsuitable for Class F fires involving cooking oils. Using water on a cooking oil fire can not only damage equipment but also cause the fire to spread even further, making the situation significantly more dangerous.
The fire safety equipment you need to invest in may be guided through performing a Fire Risk Assessment. This assessment will provide a clear overview of any potential fire hazards and identify which types of fire extinguishers you need to thoroughly safeguard an area.
In the UK, there are six main Classes of fire – Class A, B, C, D, F and Electrical fires.
What Causes Class A Fires: Class A fires are caused by flammable solids such as fabric, wood, paper, rubber, plastic, straw, and coal. Class A fires can ignite quickly and spread easily depending on the fuel, heat and oxygen available to sustain the flame.
Where Are Class A Fires Found: Class A fires can be found almost anywhere due to the accessibility of these combustible materials.
Type of Fire Extinguisher Needed: Water fire extinguishers are only used for combatting Class A fires. Dousing the Class A fire in water safely cools and controls the fire without causing further damage to the surrounding areas. A Water mist, ABC powder and a Wet Chemical fire extinguisher can also effectively target class A fires.
What Causes Class B Fires: Class B fires are caused by flammable liquids such as alcohol, diesel, petrol and solvents. If the potential fire threat is not quickly controlled, a combustible liquid fire can spread rapidly and become incredibly dangerous.
Where Are Class B Fires Found: Class B fires commonly occur in overheating engines or factories where flammable liquids may regularly be handled alongside hot machinery. To minimise the risk of Class B fires in the workplace, flammable liquids must be safely stored in line with UK regulations. A Fire Risk Assessment is especially crucial to protecting workers handling flammable liquids.
Type of Fire Extinguisher Needed: CO2 and ABC Powder fire extinguishers are the most effective choices against Class B fires.
What Causes Class C Fires: Class C fires are caused by flammable gases such as butane, hydrogen, methane and propane. A flammable gas fire may be incredibly explosive, dealing great damage to those directly involved and to the surrounding area.
Where Are Class C Fires Found: Class C fires most commonly occur in industrial warehouses but can easily ignite within homes and engines from gas leaks.
Type of Fire Extinguisher Needed: Dry powder fire extinguishers effectively extinguish flammable gas fires. Alternatively, ABC powder extinguishers or Clean Agent Gas fire extinguishers suppress the combustible gas fire without leaving harmful residue.
What Causes Class D Fires: Class D fires are caused by highly flammable metals such as potassium, aluminium powder or dust and titanium.
Where Are Class D Fires Found: Class D fires can be found anywhere that requires metal work. A burning metal fire can be especially dangerous if you use a water fire extinguisher. The water will react with the hot metal and accelerate the scope of fire.
Type of Fire Extinguisher Needed: Dry powder fire extinguishers combat Class D fires. The dry powder works against burning metals by smothering the flame. This both cuts off the fire’s oxygen supply and allows it to cool. This process prevents the fire from spreading or reigniting.
What Causes Class F Fires: Class F fires are caused by hot cooking oils and fats. Hot oil fires can be especially dangerous as they burn at incredibly high temperatures, spit uncontrollably and cannot be extinguished without specialised fire extinguishers.
Where Are Class F Fires Found: Class F fires commonly occur in domestic and commercial kitchens and are caused by deep fat fryers.
Type of Fire Extinguisher Needed: Wet chemical fire extinguishers fight Class F fires. A wet chemical fire extinguisher works by simultaneously cooling and smothering the flames through saponification. This process means the extinguisher’s solution reacts with burning fat to form a soapy, oxygen-blocking foam. This foam smothers the fire while the liquid cools it, preventing re-ignition until the fire is fully extinguished.
To safely tackle an Electrical fire, you should use either a CO2 fire extinguisher or a dry powder extinguisher.
Combatting Electrical fires can be particularly challenging for two reasons. First, they are triggered by short circuits or faulty fuses found in enclosed spaces or microenvironments. This means a fire may be difficult to access. Even if detected early, directly targeting the affected area with a fire extinguisher can be difficult. Second, electrical fires occur in electrical environments such as server racks. While dry powder extinguishers can suffocate the flame, they will leave behind foam residue that may damage the electrical environment.
Here at the Fire Protection Shop, for combating Electrical fires whilst preventing damage to the electrical area, we strongly recommend using CO2 fire extinguishers
You can identify the class of fire extinguishers by checking the coloured-coded panel displayed clearly on the front of the extinguisher. The colour code is broken down as the following:
Dry Powder Extinguishers: Blue.
Foam Extinguishers: Cream.
Water (Spray and Mist) Extinguishers: Red.
Wet Chemical Extinguishers: Yellow.
Clean Agent Extinguishers: Green.
Did you know that fire extinguishers were not always painted entirely red? Instead, fire extinguishers were completely coloured to match the colour code used for the extinguishing agent inside. Fire extinguishers were eventually changed to Signal Red with only a small panel of additional colour. Red clearly communicated danger while making the fire extinguisher easier to find through smoke and fire.
Fire extinguishers should be serviced at least once every 12 months.
No matter the type of extinguisher, you should ensure that your fire extinguishers are serviced annually. Servicing your fire extinguishers regularly ensures that your equipment will function effectively when you need it the most.