FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

Used properly, a portable fire extinguisher can save lives and property by putting out a small fire or controlling it until the fire department arrives.

Automatic Protection Systems Corp. can provide your firm with both hand portable and wheeled fire extinguisher units to meet any application you may have. You should, however, choose your extinguisher carefully. A fire extinguisher should bear the seal of an independent testing laboratory. It should also be labeled as to the type of fire it is intended to extinguish. Additionally, the extinguishers must be large enough to put out the fire. Most portable extinguishers discharge completely in as few as eight seconds.

There are five basic classes of fires. All fire extinguishers are labeled with standard symbols for the classes of fires they can put out. A red slash through any of the symbols tells you the extinguisher cannot be used on that class of fire. A missing symbol tells you only that the extinguisher has not been tested and approved for use on a given class of fire. Every fire extinguisher should display one or more of the following NFPA fire symbols:

CLASS	TYPES OF FIRES	NFPA SYMBOL
A	ORDINARY COMBUSTIBLES Wood, paper, cloth, rubber, many plastics, etc.
B	FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS & GASES Gasoline, oils, paint thinner, dry cleaning agents, propane, natural gas, tar. Etc.
C	FIRES INVOLVING LIVE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
D	COMBUSTIBLE METALS Metal fires involving magnesium, sodium, potassium and sodium-potassium alloys, lithium and lithium alloy
K	KITCHEN FIRES Fires in cooking appoiances that involve combustible cooking media such as vegetable or animal oils and fats