Roundup: Fire Extinguishers
And What To Know Before You Buy

The joyous holiday season brings extensive cooking, sparkling christmas trees and warm nights by the heater. But with these seasonal symbols comes a greater risk of house fires. We've rounded up Apartment Therapy's favorite fire extinguishers and surprisingly they're not one size fits all.

Fire extinguishers are divided into four categories based on what type of fire the extinguisher can handle.

From Fire Extinguisher 101

Class A extinguishers are for ordinary combustible materials such as paper, wood, cardboard, and most plastics. The numerical rating on these types of extinguishers indicates the amount of water it holds and the amount of fire it can extinguish.
Class B fires involve flammable or combustible liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, grease and oil. The numerical rating for class B extinguishers indicates the approximate number of square feet of fire it can extinguish.
Class C fires involve electrical equipment, such as appliances, wiring, circuit breakers and outlets. Never use water to extinguish class C fires - the risk of electrical shock is far too great. Class C extinguishers do not have a numerical rating. The C classification means the extinguishing agent is non-conductive.
Class D fire extinguishers are commonly found in a chemical laboratory. They are for fires that involve combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, potassium and sodium. These types of extinguishers also have no numerical rating, nor are they given a multi-purpose rating - they are designed for class D fires only.
Kidde FX10K Kitchen Fire Extinguisher

Use for kitchen fires, Class B-C
Home Hero Fire Extinguisher

Deigned to put out grease and electrical fires
Pingy Fire Extinguisher

Is suitable for types A, B and C fires
Tundra Fire Suppressant

For small kitchen and household fires
Related Fire Prevention Posts
[Image from blmurch]

Comments (8)

I learned an important tip from a colleague who recently had a major fire in her home. Don't store the fire extinguisher next to the stove. Her stove caught on fire, spread to the adjacent cabinet, and she wasn't able to get to the fire extinguisher!

It needs to be handy, but not stored exactly where a fire is most likely to be.

Does anyone know what to do with an empty fire extinguisher that doesn't involve landfills?

for safety equipment like a fire extinguisher, if it isn't bright red I want it in florescent green or orange. if they are going designer, they need to be designed to stick out. safety first!

KTG, you're just snarky today (I've noticed it in several posts).

Do you need a hug?

I would recommend using a fire extinguisher only if you have to. Last year, I caught the top of my stove on fire when I was heating oil (stupid, I know...) and the first thing I did was reach for the fire extinguisher. It worked immediately, but made the BIGGEST mess in the world. my kitchen was covered in dusty chemical junk. I had never used and extinguisher in my life, so I didn't know what to expect.

I should have used baking soda instead. :(

Are landlords (and -ladies?) supposed to provide fire extinguishers? We have some, but they're all dusty and the inspection tags are brown and faded and haven't been filled out.

The tags say Date ___ . ___. 19 ____.
So I'm guessin' they're old.

i've always thought it was interesting that when you show house tours, i've NEVER seen a fire extinguisher. ditto for home/design magazines. never. never ever.

to prevent cooking fires, I would recommend StoveTop FireStop. it's an automatic fire suppressor, about the size of a tuna can that magnetizes underneath the vent hood. check out their website at www.stovetopfirestop.com!!!