Fire Extinguishing Systems

Fire Extinguishing Systems

For your safety and the safety of others at the University of Michigan (U-M), it is a good practice to know when to fight a fire, which fire extinguisher to use, and how to put out a fire.  The first decision you must make when a fire occurs is to only fight a fire if:

  • The fire is small and contained
  • You are safe from toxic smoke
  • You have a means of escape

If at any time one of these criteria changes, SOUND THE ALARM and evacuate the area immediately.

Standard Operating Procedures, Guidelines, and Manuals

FIRE EXTINGUISHER RATING

MATERIAL IT WILL EXTINGUISH

NUMERICAL RATING REFERENCE

NOTES

Class A

FIRE EXTINGUISHER type A

  • Wood

  • Paper

  • The amount of water the fire extinguisher holds

  • The amount of fire it will extinguish

NA

Class B

FIRE EXTINGUISHER Class B

Flammable liquids, such as:

  • Grease

  • Gasoline

  • Oil

The approximate number of square feet of a flammable liquid fire that a non-expert person can expect to extinguish

NA

Class C

FIRE EXTINGUISHER ClassC

  • Electrical equipment

  • Electrically energized fires

NA

The presence of the letter C indicates that the extinguishing agent is non-conductive

Class D

Flammable metals (are often specific for the type of metal in question)

NA

They are not given a multi-purpose rating for use on other types of fires

Multi-Class

Many extinguishers available today can be used on different types of fires and will be labeled with more than one designator (A-B, B-C, or A-B

Michigan Block M

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