Fire should be looked like a living thing. It replicates the actions of a savage or a beast. It devours everything in its way like some wild animal. If you have ever witnessed a forest fire then you have seen firsthand that this is true. To stop a fire you need to suffocate it much like you would a crazed man. C02 extinguishers are used as a method to suffocate certain types of fires.
When a fire is allowed to burn freely, such as a house fire, it does so in a very out of control manner. In order to kill the hungry beast before it destroys your home and possibly harms your family or pets you need a way to smother them. The way a fire grows is it lives on fuel and oxygen, much like other living things.
Smothering a fire is accomplished by removing the chance for it to get fuel from oxygen. The most common smothering agent for house fires is to use c02 extinguishers. These extinguishers contain Carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a gas that reduces the amount of oxygen in the air. These two gasses cannot exist together. Carbon dioxide removes the oxygen out of the air and is therefore a reliable way to smother a fire.
Fire falls into several classifications. These classifications are all grouped by letters. Class A fires are those that are made from standard combustible products such as paper or wood. Class B fires are the result of bringing flammable liquids such as gasoline. Class C fires are electrical fires. These are most often caused by faulty wiring that causes a spark. C02 extinguishers are used for class B and Class C fires.
Class A fires such as paper and wood can be put out by being smothered by water. Water will not suffocate Class B and Class C fires. In fact it will do just the opposite. It will fuel the fire. As the saying goes water and gasoline don't mix and you should never put water on a gasoline fire. Many fires that burn in a home are Class B and Class C fires. For this reason it is important to always have a c02 extinguisher in your home.
The c02 inside of extinguishers is in a liquid form but when it mixes with air it transforms into a snow like substance that foams out of the extinguisher. This foam it what you see used most often to put out household fires that are caused by electricity or flammable gas.
To use a c02 extinguisher you need to hold the extinguisher out in front of you. Be sure to point it toward the fire but never in the direction of anybody. You should start by pointing the extinguisher toward the bottom of the fire. You will most likely find a pin in the handle. This pin a safety device. Remove the pin and press the lever to release the c02. Spray toward the bottom of the fire with a side to side motion. As the fire begins to die spray toward the outer edges of the fire and continue to spray the c02 until the fire has been put out.
Since a c02 extinguisher contains a form of dry ice it serves as a great way to chill a case of warm beer. You can place the beer in a cooler and point the extinguisher toward the beer and spray it with c02. Before drinking from the beer bottles be sure to wipe off the beer
Jason Williams is an expert in home alarms. If you want further information about CO2 extinguishers or are looking for a trusted fire extinguisher company please visit http://www.adt.co.uk
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