While fire extinguishers are an important part of fighting small fires, you should fight a fire with a fire extinguisher only when all of the following are true:

• Everyone has left or is leaving the building.
• The fire department has been called.
• The fire is small and confined to the immediate areas where is started, such as in a wastebasket, cushion, small appliance, stove top, etc.
• You can fight the fire with your back to a safe escape route.
• Your extinguisher is rated for the type of fire you are fighting and is in good working order.
• You have had training in use of the extinguisher and are confident you can operate it effectively.

Remember: if you have the slightest doubt about whether or not to fight the fire--don't.

Instead, get out, closing the door behind you to slow the spread of the fire. You have a well-trained and quipped fire department standing by ready to protect you. They are professionals, let them do their job.

Fire extinguishers are not designed to fight a large or spreading fire. Even against small fires, they are useful only under the right conditions. An extinguisher must be large enough for the fire at hand. It must be available and in working order, fully charged. The operator should be familiar with the extinguisher so it won’t be necessary to read directions during an emergency.

A fire extinguisher should be “listed” and “labeled” by an independent testing laboratory such as FM (Factory Mutual) or UL (Underwriters Laboratory). The higher the rating number on an A or B fire extinguisher, the more fire it can put out, but high-rated units are often the heavier models. Make sure you can hold and operate the extinguisher you are buying.

If you would like to schedule a Fire Extinguisher training, please contact our Prevention Division at Prevention@aspenfire.com

Remember that extinguishers need care and must be recharged after every use. 

Ask the dealer about the extinguisher and how it should be serviced and inspected. A partially used unit might as well be empty.

Although Aspen Fire does not offer a recharge service, here are a few places that do offer this service:

Excel Fire Protection – Grand Junction: (970) 434-4803
Flame Out Fire Protection, Inc. – Basalt: (970) 927-4933
Frontier Fire Protection – Rifle: (970) 945-8735
Meridian Intermountain – Avon: (970) 827-9120
Mr. Fire Sprinkler & Extinguisher – Centennial: (303) 720-9817
Tri County Fire Protection – Rifle: (970) 625-4533
Tyco Simplex Grinnell – Denver/Aurora: (303) 355-0500

You may need more than one extinguisher in your home. For example, you may want an extinguisher in the kitchen as well as one in the garage or workshop. Each extinguisher should be installed in plain view near an escape route and away from potential fire hazards such as heating appliances.
PASS System for Fire Extinguisher

Types of Extinguishers

Type A

Type A label is in a triangle on the extinguisher. This extinguisher is used for ordinary combustibles such as cloth, wood, rubber and many plastics. These types of fire usually leave ashes after they burn.

• Remember: Type A extinguishers for Ashes.

Type B

Type B label is in a square on the extinguisher. This extinguisher is used for flammable liquid fires such as oil, gasoline, paints, lacquers, grease, and solvents. These substances often come in barrels.

• Remember: Type B extinguishers for Barrels.

Type C

Type C label is in a circle on the extinguisher. This extinguisher is used for electrical fires such as in wiring, fuse boxes, energized electrical equipment and other electrical sources. Electricity travels in currents.

• Remember: Type C extinguishers for Currents.

Type D

Type D label is in a star on the extinguisher. This extinguisher is used for metal fires such as magnesium, titanium and sodium. These types of fire are very dangerous and seldom handled by the general public.

• Remember: Type D for Don’t Get Involved.

Pictograms

Recently, pictograms have come into use on fire extinguishers. These picture the type of fire on which an extinguisher is to be used. For instance, a Type A extinguisher has a pictogram showing burning wood. A Type C extinguisher has a pictogram showing an electrical cord and outlet. These pictograms are also used to show what not to use. For example, a Type A extinguisher will show a pictogram of an electrical cord and outlet with a big slash through it. In other words, this extinguisher should not be uses on an electrical fire.

Number Rating

Fire extinguishers also have a number rating. For Type A fires, a 1 would stand for 1 1/4 gallons of water, a 2 would represent 2 1/2 gallons, 3 would be 3 3/4 gallons of water, etc. For Type B and Type C fire, the number represents square feet. For example, 2 would be two square feet, 5 is five square feet, etc.

Fire extinguishers can also be made to extinguish more than one type of fire. For example, you might have an extinguisher with a label that reads 2A5B. This would mean this extinguisher is good for Type A fires with a 2 1/2 gallon equivalence and it is also good for Type B fires with a 5 square feet equivalency. A good extinguisher to have in each residential kitchen is a 2A10BC fire extinguisher. You might also want to get a Type A for the living room and bedrooms and an ABC for the basement and garage.

Expiration Dates and Disposal

Most extinguishers expire in 6 years. To find when yours expires, the year will be listed on the bottom of the canister, and the amount of years it is valid will be in the fine print on the label.  If your extinguisher has expired, there are 2 ways to dispose of it:

1.  Empty the contents of the canister outside in your back yard or into a large trash bag.  Pull the pin, aim low to the ground, squeeze the trigger and sweep side to side. This is a great way to get the feel of how an extinguisher works. Once the canister is fully empty, you can throw it away in your regular trash.

2.  Ask your local landfill if they offer special disposal for expired extinguishers.  Pitkin County Landfill will remove the contents themselves and the canister will go into metal recycling. The cost for this disposal is $5.