Fire Extinguishers
Posted by Boating Laws - 26/01/09 at 10:01 pmFire Extinguishers
Fire extinguishers are portable devices that are used to control small fires in houses or buildings. They are not really installed in infrastructures to put out fires but merely to act as “first aid” to prevent a bigger conflagration.
There are two main types of fire extinguishers namely stored pressure and generated pressure. For stored pressure, the expellant and fire fighting agent are located on the same chamber. When it comes to dry chemical extinguishers, the water and foam are pressurized with air. In here, nitrogen is usually used. Fire extinguishers are also divided into their packages such as handheld and cart-mounted. Handheld extinguishers are small compared to those cart-mounted. The handheld are commonly used for homes and small building sections since they are convenient while the other type is for construction sites and temporary landing sites. The latter are usually contain dry chemical.
Further, fire extinguishers are divided into four categories. Class A types are for papers and materials like plastics. For flammable and combustible liquids like gasoline, the rating is class B. When there is fire caused by electrical equipments, class C is used. They have no numerical ratings unlike the other types. In chemical laboratories where there are combustible materials involve, class D are used. They also have no ratings. Most countries require the installation of these devices especially on commercial centers such as supermarkets and theaters since there are people who live on it or go to it everyday. Moreover, these devices require maintenance and care too.
