The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) provides minimum recommendations for the home: Primary Fire Extinguishers - For your main home protection, install a 2-A:10-B:C rated extinguisher on every level of your home - no more than 40 feet apart. Include all locations where a fire may start.
An ABC dry chemical extinguisher is the best option for nearly all homes and for use by a lay person. You can buy one at Lowe's, Home Depot, and various hardware stores very easily.
Water mist extinguishers are the safest option. Due to their versatility, a water mist fire extinguisher is able to tackle Class A, B, C and electrical fires. This, combined with a wet chemical fire extinguisher, will be enough to keep your kitchen or restaurant safe.
ABC Dry Powder has an impressive ability to suppress larger flames when compared to a foam of the same size. This is because 1). When discharged the Powder aerates, expands and forms a cloud much, much larger than the volume of the powder in the cylinder, and 2).
For any indoor fire that actually requires a fire extinguisher and is still small enough for you to fight yourself without having any protective equipment, a large enough CO2 extinguisher will do fine.
The best overall home fire extinguisher is the ABC Dry Powder. This is simply due to how versatile this fire extinguisher is. There are many pros to purchasing a dry powder fire extinguisher.
Carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, when used in the right circumstances can save lives. However, it would be dangerous to use a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher when dealing with flammable gases, cooking oils and fats, or in a confined space.
Cons: risk of cold burns if the user holds the extinguisher by the horn; less environmentally friendly than other types of extinguisher; they replace the oxygen in the air with CO2 so risk of asphyxiation if used in confined spaces.
Where Can Foam Fire Extinguishers Not Be Used? This extinguisher type should not be used in any of the following scenarios: Class F fires; cooking fires that include oil and grease, for instance, chip pan fires should not be treated with a foam fire extinguisher.
Class A - Ordinary combustibles (e.g. solid materials such as wood, paper, plastic) Class B - Flammable liquids (e.g. oil, grease, petrol) Class C - Flammable gases (e.g. methane, propane) Class D - Flammable metals (e.g. titanium, magnesium)
The kitchen and garage are good sites for an extinguisher. However, do not place an extinguisher over the stove or buried in storage in the garage, but rather hang it on the wall no less than 4 inches or greater than 5 feet from the ground.
Fire extinguishers are required in most commercial, industrial and residential buildings. The only buildings where fire extinguishers are not mandated are family homes.
You should have extinguishers in primary living areas, the kitchen, garage, and at least one on each story of the home. If you live in a small, one-story home, then one might be enough. In this case, it is best to locate it in the kitchen because this is where the majority of home fires originate.
Should you buy a fire extinguisher? Yes, provided you know when and how to use it. Fire extinguishers can be a small but important part of the home fire safety plan. They can save lives and property by putting out a small fire or suppressing it until the fire department arrives.
Every year, fire departments respond to more than 170,000 home fires caused by cooking. The top reason for these fires is someone leaving the stove unattended while cooking.
Every house should have a working fire extinguisher. Most households would be well served with a multi-purpose ABC dry-chemical fire extinguisher. Every extinguisher is identified by symbols, indicating the type of fires they can extinguish.
These foams contain chemicals which belong to a group of toxic chemicals called PFOS (perfluorooctanoic acids) which do not degrade easily in nature and can cause environmental damage and serious health risks. These foams are currently being phased out and will be banned for use from 4th July 2025.
While ABC extinguishers are versatile and can combat a wide range of fires, CO2 extinguishers are specifically designed for electrical and flammable liquid fires. The choice between the two depends on the specific needs of the environment and the types of hazards one may encounter.
CO2 fire extinguishers are mainly aimed at electrical fires but are also suitable for Class B liquid fires and are used in different ways depending on the type of fire they are being used on. Do not use CO2 extinguishers in small rooms as CO2 gas is poisonous at only 4% concentration and can kill at just 8%.
Standard dry powder fire extinguishers are very versatile and can put out virtually every kind of fire. However, they aren't recommended for use in enclosed spaces. See the link for a full article explaining the correct use of fire extinguishers in confined spaces.
Water fire extinguishers are NOT suitable for electrical fires as water is a conductor and you are at risk of electrocution if used on this type of fire. They are also NOT suitable for flammable liquids or flammable metal fires as it will not extinguish the fire.
A fire extinguisher should always be placed in a path of escape not in the line of fire. If a fire blocks your path to a fire extinguisher, consider repositioning it to another spot.
For this reason, powder extinguishers should generally not be specified for use indoors, unless mitigated by a health and safety risk assessment. We hope this guide to what fire extinguisher should not be used in confined spaces has been helpful.
It's easy to remember how to use a fire extinguisher if you can remember the acronym PASS, which stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Sweep. Pull the pin.