What is a fire extinguisher？

A fire extinguisher is a portable fire extinguishing tool. A fire extinguisher holds chemicals inside to put out fires. fire extinguishers are one of the common fire prevention facilities that are stored in public places or places where fires may occur. Different types of fire extinguishers are filled with different ingredients and are designed for different fire starts. This article will briefly introduce the uses of fire extinguishers.

Here is the list of contents：

• The origin of fire extinguishers

• The evolution of fire extinguishers

The origin of fire extinguishers

The world's first fire extinguisher was born in London in 1834 when a fire almost completely destroyed the old Palace of Westminster, where the British Houses of Parliament were located. Among the many people watching the fire, there was one who had nothing better to do than to come and see the fire: George William Manby. Born in Norfolk, Manby joined the army as a young man and rose to the rank of captain, serving as the officer of Yarmouth Barracks, an idle position that strongly attracted him to the cause of saving human lives. Earlier, he was passionate about shipwreck rescue, he invented the trouser lifebuoy, and was the first person to propose the use of lighthouse flashing identification signal. Later, Manby shifted his genius ability from marine rescue to fire rescue business. At the time of the fire, he was experimenting with fireproof suits. His most remarkable and pioneering contribution was his invention of the portable compressed gas fire extinguisher, which was a two-foot-long, eight-inch-diameter, four-gallon-liter-capacity brass cylinder, essentially the same as today's fire extinguishers. He put the fire extinguisher in his specially designed cart, and he hoped that patrols equipped with this fire extinguisher would immediately extinguish small fires at the site of the fire, thereby reducing the number of major fire outbreaks.

The evolution of fire extinguishers

Fire extinguishers are a firefighting necessity that is often left out of the equation and comes in handy when needed. Especially in today's world of high-rise buildings and interiors decorated with wood, plastic, and fabric, a fire without the proper fire extinguisher can be a major disaster.

In ancient times, the fire extinguishing equipment was very simple, nothing more than hooks, axes, spades, buckets, and so on. The first real dedicated fire extinguisher is invented by the British captain, Norfolk Manby in 1816, it is only one or two containing more than 1 liter of water and filled with compressed air barrels.

By the mid-19th century, the French doctor Gallier invented a portable chemical fire extinguisher. The sodium bicarbonate and water mixed in the tube, another glass bottle containing sulfuric acid in the mouth of the barrel. When in use, the firing pin breaks through the bottle to mix the chemicals and produce carbon dioxide, pressing the water out of the barrel.

In 1905, the Russian Professor Laurent invented a foam fire extinguishing agent in St. Petersburg, mixing aluminum sulfate with sodium bicarbonate solution and adding stabilizer, sprayed to produce foam containing carbon dioxide, floating on the burning oil, paint, or gasoline, can effectively isolate the oxygen, choking the flame.

In 1909, Davidson of New York obtained a patent for the use of carbon dioxide from the fire extinguisher pressed out of carbon tetrachloride, the liquid will immediately become non-combustible heavier gas to smother the flame. Since then, there have been dry powder fire extinguishers, liquid carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, and other small types of fire extinguishers.

Nanjing Jiayi Fire Technology Co., Ltd is a professional leading supplier of fire extinguisher equipment in China. With quality products and competitive prices, we have grown rapidly to expand our business all over the world and gained a good reputation in the firefighting industry. If you are interested in our products, welcome to contact us!