Should you fight the fire?  

• Before you begin to fight a small fire make sure everyone has left or is leaving the building.
• Make sure the fire department has been notified.

 Never fight a fire if even one of the following is true: 

• The fire is spreading fast or is already a large fire.
• The fire could block your escape route.
• You are untrained in the proper operation of the extinguisher.
• You don’t know whether the extinguisher is designed for the type of fire at hand or is large enough to fight the fire.

To fight a fire with an extinguisher in any one of these cases is irresponsible. Instead, leave immediately, close off the area, and leave the fire to fire fighters.

 Extinguishers have a label on the front with operating instructions. 

The operating principle is the same for all extinguishers – PASS

 Pull the pin.  Extinguishers have a safety mechanism to prevent the extinguisher form being accidentally discharged. Usually the safety mechanism involves a pin held in place by a plastic tie.  Since the plastic may stretch before breaking or may be difficult to break, twisting the pin first will break the tie easily. 

Aim at the base of the fire at the fuel.  Aiming at the fire does no good, since the fire is only the products of combustion coming off the fuel.

Squeeze the two parts of the handle to operate the valve and discharge the extinguishing agent. 

Sweep the extinguishing agent rapidly back and forth to cover all of the fuel and separate the fuel from the fire.  In case of flammable liquid fires, technique is very important.  The bigger the fire, the more chance the fire will flash back because of the heated vapors.