By Rick Ryckeley
Fayette County Fire & Emergency Services

When my son was five, he asked me, "Daddy, if there's a fire at our house, will you put it out with your fire truck?"

I told him that, "The Chief won't let me take the fire truck home with me. If there was a fire at our house, I would do what everyone else should do. First, call 911. Then, if the fire is not too big, try to put it out with a fire extinguisher."

"How big is not too big?" Good question from a five year-old. How do you know if a fire is too big to put out by yourself? Before I had a chance to answer, he asked me another question.

"Daddy, what's a fire extinguisher?"

"Well, it's as simple as ABC and one, two, three." He looked up at me with big green eyes and said that I was just being silly. But it's true, portable fire extinguishers are classified as to what kind of fire they can put out: Class A, Class B, or Class C fires. The amount of fire they can put out is determined by numbers - the larger the number, the more fire they can put out.

Class A fires involve ordinary combustibles such as cloth, paper, plastic, or rubber. Class A fire extinguishers are rated from 1A to 40A. The 1A rating on the extinguisher signifies that it can put out a fire that is about one cubic foot in size. A rating of 40A on the extinguisher means that it has 40 times the extinguishing agent as a 1A extinguisher.

Class B fires are flammable liquids, gases or grease. Examples of class B fires are ones that involve oil, gasoline, propane, or cooking oil. Class B extinguishers are rated from 1B to 640B. The 1B extinguisher can put out a fire that is in a one foot square area. (A 20B rating has 20 times the extinguishing agent as a 1B.)

Class C fires involve class A or class B products but are electrified. To put out a class C fire, you would disconnect the power and then it would become a class A or B fire. (First, call the fire department; then, only if it safe to do so, shut off the electricity and try to extinguish the fire.) Class C extinguishers have no number ratings.

Before you buy an extinguisher, look on the side and you will see ABC, 1, 2, 3, or you will see pictographs. Class A will be a picture of a trash can and wood on fire, class B will have a picture of a gas can and gasoline on fire, and class C will have a picture of an electrical cord and plug on fire.

So you see, fighting fires is as simple as A, B, C, 1-2-3. (I don't know which extinguisher will put out a flaming marshmallow the best. But if you buy a ten pound ABC all purpose, I'm sure that it'll do just fine for marshmallows and most anything else around the house that's on fire.)

If you have a flaming marshmallow in your house (or anything else for that matter) first have someone call 911, and then just PASS. Pull the pin on the extinguisher, Aim at the base of the flames, Squeeze the handle, and Sweep the nozzle from side to side. If the extinguisher is empty and you still see fire, then it's too big for you to put out and it's time for the experts to go to work.

"How big is not too big?" My son asked. When is a fire too big to fight with an extinguisher? Good rule of thumb about fires - if the fire is so big that it scares you, then probably you need to leave the firefighting to the experts. Call the fire department and let them put it out. One last thought about fires - the most important thing to get out of a fire is you and your loved ones. Have a home escape lesson plan for every room in your house. Draw the plan and post it on the refrigerator. Make sure your kids practice two ways out of each room, especially the bedroom (most fatal home fires happen at night). When the smoke detector goes off, everyone needs to get out! If a fire happens at my house, that's what I'm gonna do 'cause the chief still won't let me take the fire truck home.

[Rick Ryckeley is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He can be reached at saferick@bellsouth.net.]

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