Fire Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers are your first line of defence in the event of a fire, and are a legal requirement for any business premises.

There are 5 main types of fire extinguishers, each designed to extinguish a different type of fire. In order to comply with current fire safety regulations your business must have the right types of fire extinguishers for your premises.

Classes Of Fire

1. Class A – fires involving solid materials such as wood and fabric
2. Class B – fires involving flammable liquids (oil, petrol etc)
3. Class C – fires involving gases
4. Class D – fires involving metals
5. Class E – technically class ‘E’ doesn’t exist but is used for ease of understanding here – these are electrical fires
6. Class F – fires involving cooking oil

Types Of Fire Extinguishers

1. Water – these are suitable for Class A fires. They are the most commonly used form of fire extinguisher in business premises.
2. Foam – used for Class A and B fires, these extinguishers are also commonly used, and are more effective than water extinguishers.
3. Dry Powder – this type of fire extinguisher can be used on most fires, but works best on liquid fires
4. Wet Chemical – this is a specialist type of extinguisher for Class F fires.
5. CO2 – these offer the best and safest option for electrical fires, and can also extinguish Class B fires. However, this type of extinguisher does not kill heat, so there is a high risk of reignition.

Since January 1997, in accordance with BS EN 3, all fire extinguishers have been coloured red, with colour-coded labels indicating the contents.

The colours are coded as follows:

1. Water – Red
2. Foam – Cream
3. Dry Powder – Blue
4. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) – Black

All of the extinguishers supplied by Gardant comply with the British Standards BS 5309-3:2017 and BS5306-8:2012.