Fire extinguishers are one of the most critical components in buildings for safety measures. For home and building owners, installing a fire extinguisher is a good precautionary step to tackle fire related accidents. A multipurpose fire extinguisher that is versatile in use can be very handy. Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher, or ABC fire extinguisher is a fire safety equipment suited for class A, B and C fires. If you are a resident at a building or an employee at an office complex, knowing how and where to use these fire extinguishers is important. However, in case of a major fire accident, the emergency services should be informed without delay.
Steps To Use Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher
- Identify the class of fire
Before rushing to unleash the fire extinguisher, one must be aware whether that equipment is safe for the type of fire that has occurred. Here is the classification:
Class A: Combustible materials – Wood, Plastic, Paper, Textile, Rubber etc
Class B: Flammable Liquid: Petrol, Paint, Spirit, Grease etc
Class C: Flammable Gases: Methane, Propane, Butane etc
Class F: Cooking Oils: Mustard, Olive, Butter, Ghee, Fats etc
Electric Fires: Electric appliances like computer, mixer, xerox machine, refrigerator
2. Pull the safety pin by breaking the tamper seal.
3. Squeeze the lever to release the extinguishing powder.
4. Aim the nozzle by applying the techniques suited for material type:
Solids: Aim at steady speed towards the base, not the flames.
Still Liquid: Start by aiming at the edge and then the nozzle across the surface to cover the whole area with the chemical agent.
Flowing Liquid: Aim towards the base then steadily sweep upwards to avoid interaction with liquid directly as it could hasten the flow and spread flames further.
Gas: Aim at the base to break contact between fuel and fire. Before that, switch off the supply of gas.
Electrical: Aim at the base of the fire and smother it off oxygen.
5. After the fire has been put out, rec-scan to check for reignition.
Types of Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher by Foamtech
As a specialised manufacturer of fire extinguishers, Foamtech provides all the necessary types of dry powder extinguishers to meet the diverse needs of commercial, industrial, and residential fire safety requirements. These fire extinguishers are further categorised according to specific applications. The user should be aware of these types to know which extinguisher to use where.
1. FLAMAX ABC DRY CHEMICAL POWDER
Used in combating fire in ordinary combustible materials (paper, wood, rubber, cloth, plastic), flammable liquids (petrol, paint, grease, spirit), inflammable gases (propane, butane, methane) and electric fires upto 1000 volts. Mono Ammonium Phosphate is used as a base agent.
2. FLAMAX BC DRY CHEMICAL POWDER
Used in class B, C, F i.e fires caused by inflammable liquids and gases, and electrical equipment respectively. The chemical agents used in this type of fire extinguisher are sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate, available in different variants.
3. FLAMAX FIREX UPBC DRY CHEMICAL POWDER
The application of this variant is similar to FLAMAX BC DRY CHEMICAL POWDER, but the key difference is performance. This variant is high performance due to its complex composition which contains potassium bicarbonate and urea. Suitable for high risks regions such as refineries, factories and airfields
4. FLAMAX TEC DRY CHEMICAL POWDER
This can be used in class D fires in which metals and alloys are involved. Fire extinguishing agent Ternary Eutectic Chloride (TEC) reacts with free radicals of metals and terminates the chain reaction, quickly mitigating the fire.
5. FLAMAX PYROGUARD DRY CHEMICAL POWDER
Used in metal and metal- alkyl fires also called pyrophoric fires. The chemical agent used in this variant is Pyroguard which creates a blanketing effect to cut off oxygen and therefore smothering the fire.
