How to Use a Fire Extinguisher

Let’s all pray right now, that you never need to know how to use a fire extinguisher, shall we?

Ok, now I believe that all prayers are answered, but sometimes the answer isn’t what we would prefer, so it’s best to be prepared.

What are you preparing for?

That moment when you realize you are close enough, and that you have the right extinguisher, and the fire is small enough so you can make a difference and mitigate the damaging effects of the growing menace before you. Whew! That’s a lot to realize in a moment. That’s why you need to be prepared. Let’s break that down into smaller portions.

Are you close enough? For most fire extinguishers to be effective, you must be within 10 feet of the source fuel. If you can’t get that close, anything you do with a fire extinguisher is going to be a waste of time, energy, and resources while putting you at risk. So how close do you need to be? That’s right: 10 feet.

Do you have the right extinguisher? That depends what is on fire. Wood or paper fires require a type A extinguisher. Liquid fires, like gasoline or oils require a type B extinguisher. Live electrical fires require a type C extinguisher. If you come upon a burning metal fire (potassium, magnesium, sodium, uranium, and powdered aluminum) you’ll need a type D extinguisher, but these are generally only found in industrial settings, because most common metals (like steel, solid aluminum, copper, brass, bronze, and iron) aren’t going to burst into flame at temperatures normally found on Earth. Got a K rating on your extinguisher? You’re in a commercial kitchen with an automated fire suppression system in the hood, so that extinguisher is supplemental protection.

ALMOST all of the extinguishers you’ll come across these days are rated ABC which makes them appropriate for most fires. You still need to check to make sure that the extinguisher you have matches the fire you are facing. Using the wrong kind of extinguisher can make the situation go from bad to worse in a disastrously short amount of time. So check yourself. Wood/paper? Yeah, A. Gasoline or oils (including cooking oils)? Right, B. Anything electric that is still plugged in? You got it, C. Burning industrial metals? Seriously- don’t try to tackle these unless you know what you’re doing and have a D extinguisher, which you probably don’t.

Is the fire small enough? That depends on the rating (basically size) of your extinguisher. On the label, somewhere, you’ll see a code like, “3A:40B:C” which will tell you if the fire is small enough. The number before the A, multiplied by 1.25, tells the equivalent gallons of water when used on a wood/cloth/paper based fire. So a 3A rated extinguisher is the approximate equivalent of 3.75 gallons of water. The number before the B tells the square footage of a burning liquid fire it can handle. So 40B rated extinguisher will cover a 5′ x 8′ patch of burning fuel or grease. The C rating means that the stuff that’s in the extinguisher is not conductive so it can be used on an electrical or ‘C’ fire safely. There are no numbers associated with the C rating. It’s either good, or not.

The 3A:40B:C rating is fairly common for a good 5 pound extinguisher*. That means there’s 5 pounds of dry chemical in there. It actually weighs a lot more. A 10 pound extinguisher* is pretty big for most people to handle, though it does usually get a 4A:80B:C rating. Most folks have a smaller, 2.5 pound unit* with a 1A:10B:C rating. So is the fire small enough? Think in terms of gallons of water to put out the paper or wood, or how big the square footage of the source puddle of oil or gasoline is, and know ahead of time the limits of the size extinguisher you have. If the extinguisher you have is not adequate, you may be able to slow the fire’s spread, but only if you have the right kind, and you can get close enough.

OK! So you know your fire extinguisher inside and out now, and are prepared for the moment when you have to decide IF YOU SHOULD use a fire extinguisher.

If the answer in that moment is YES, you are close enough, have the proper type of extinguisher for the fire and it is big enough to make some difference then actually using it is the easy part.

Remember PASS.

Pull the safety pin.

Aim at the base of the flames.

Squeeze the handle to release the extinguishing agent (usually dry chemical powder)

Sweep back and forth to cover the most area of the fuel source you can.

See, P-A-S-S. If you don’t remember it, look at the pictographs on the label of the extinguisher- really, it’s pretty simple.

Using a fire extinguisher is just that easy to do. The mistakes usually come from the lack of preparation part I talked about first. If you “PASS” very well… but from 20 feet away, you’ve done no good and you’re down an extinguisher. If you use a “Type A ONLY” water-filled extinguisher* (big silver ones like we had in school back in the 70’s) to “PASS” with fantastic form exactly 10 feet away from a grease fire, you’ll spread that flaming fat all over your entire kitchen, accelerating and expanding the burning of your house. If you try to use a 2.5 pound extinguisher to “fire off some parting shots” as your entire garage is engulfed in flames, you’re kidding yourself and not paying enough attention to getting out safely.

PJ regularly holds “fire drills” and now she has added fire extinguisher practice as well. The children practice how to hold the fire extinguisher:

How to pull the pin:

And how to aim the fire extinguisher:

They are also taught when to use the fire extinguisher and when to just escape.

I hope you never find yourself in that moment, but if you are prepared, you will be able to quickly ascertain the type and size of the fire and whether your equipment is a match. Then you can pray while you PASS, or find other ways to help and make a difference.