Fire Extinguisher Label

Basically there are four classes of fires, and all fire extinguishers are labeled according to the class of fires they can put out as well as size of fire they can handle.

Type A Extinguisher - is depicted in a triangle or as a trash can on the extinguisher. This extinguisher is used for ordinary combustibles such as cloth, wood, rubber and many plastics, which usually leave ashes after they burn. Type A extinguishers for Ashes.

Type B Extinguisher - is depicted in a square or as a gasoline can on the extinguisher. This extinguisher is used for flammable liquid fires such as oil, gasoline, paints, grease, and solvents, which usually come in barrels. Type B extinguishers for Barrels.

Type C Extinguisher - is depicted in a circle as a plug and an electrical outlet on the extinguisher. This extinguisher is used for electrical fires such as in wiring, fuse boxes, electrical equipment, etc. Electricity travels in currents. Type C extinguisher for Currents.

Type D Extinguisher - is depicted with a "combustible metals" denotation. This extinguisher is solely used in the industrial setting for extinguishing fires caused by combustible metals such as magnesium or sodium.

A red slash through the symbol means that the extinguisher cannot be used on that class of fire. A missing symbol means only that the extinguisher has not been tested for a given class of fire. Fire extinguishers also have a numerical rating. For Type A fires, the numerical rating is between 1 to 40, and for Type B fires, the numerical rating is between 1 to 640. The larger the number for either type, the larger the fire of that type the extinguisher can be used on. There are no ratings for class C or D fires. An example of how this would appear on an extinguisher is as follows: 10A; 60B; C. Since a single fire extinguisher can be made to extinguish more than one type of fire, the best choice is to select an ABC type extinguisher.

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