History of the Fire Extinguisher

The invention of the fire extinguisher has helped save numerous lives and has gone through a range of changes to its design to help increase its efficiency and capability to put out a fire.

The first fire extinguisher on record was patented in England in 1723 by Ambrose Godfrey, a renowned chemist. It was made of a cask of fire-extinguishing liquid containing a pewter chamber of gunpowder. This was connected to a system of fuses which were ignited, detonating the gunpowder and scattering the solution. After this style of the extinguisher, many others were created, but it wasn’t until the 1800’s that a modern version of the extinguisher appeared.

About 100 years later, the modern fire extinguisher was invented by British Captain George William Manby in 1818; it consisted of a copper vessel of 3 gallons of pearl ash (potassium carbonate) solution contained within compressed air. Another style of the fire extinguisher was invented about 70 years later when a soda-acid extinguisher was patented in the U.S. in 1881 by Almon M. Granger. His extinguisher used the reaction between sodium bicarbonate solution and sulphuric acid to eject pressurized water onto a fire. A vial was suspended in the cylinder containing concentrated sulphuric acid. Dependent on the type of extinguisher, the vial of acid could be broken in one of two ways. One used a plunger to break the acid vial, whilst the other released a lead stopple that held the vial closed. Once the acid was mixed with the bicarbonate solution, carbon dioxide gas was expelled, pressurizing the water. The pressurized water was pushed from the canister through a nozzle or short length of hose.

At the same time, the cartridge-operated extinguisher was created by Read & Campbell of England in 1881, which used water or water-based solutions. They later developed a carbon tetrachloride model called the “Petrolex” which was advertised toward automotive use. After that a chemical foam extinguisher was created around 1905 by Alexander Laurant of Russia, who first used it to extinguish a pan of burning naphtha. It works and looks like the soda-acid type, but the inner parts are different. The main tank has a solution of water, foam compound (usually made from licorice root) and sodium bicarbonate. A cylindrical metal or plastic chamber holds about a quart and a half of 13% aluminum sulphate and is capped with a lead cap. When the unit is turned over, the chemicals mix, producing CO2 gas. The licorice causes some of the CO2 bubbles to become trapped in the liquid and is discharged on the fire as a thick whitish-brown foam.

In 1910, The Pyrene Manufacturing Company of Delaware filed a patent for an extinguisher using carbon tetrachloride (CTC) to extinguish fires. The CTC vaporized and extinguished the flames by creating a dense, oxygen-excluding blanket of fumes, preventing the chemical reaction. In 1911, they patented a small, portable extinguisher that used this chemical. It consisted of a brass or chrome bottle with an integrated hand pump, which was used to eject a jet of liquid towards the fire. It had a capacity 1.1 Liter or 0.6 Liter but was also available in up to 9 Liters in size. As the container was unpressurized, it could be refilled after use through a plug with a fresh supply of CTC.

In the 1940’s, Germany invented the liquid chlorobromomethane (CBM) for use in aircraft. It was more effective and slightly less toxic than carbon tetrachloride and was used until 1969. Methyl bromide was discovered as an extinguishing agent in the 1920’s and was used widely in Europe. It is a low-pressure gas that works by preventing the chain reaction of the fire and is the most toxic of the vaporizing liquids, used until the 1960’s. The vapor and combustion by-products of all vaporizing liquids were highly toxic and could cause death in confined spaces.

The carbon dioxide (CO2) extinguisher was invented (at least in the US) by the Walter Kidde Company in 1924 in reaction to Bell Telephone’s request for an electrically non-conductive chemical for extinguishing the difficult to extinguish fires in telephone switchboards. It consisted of a tall metal cylinder containing 7.5 lbs. of CO2 with a wheel valve and a woven brass, cotton covered hose, with a composite funnel-like horn as a nozzle. CO2 is still popular today as it is an ozone-friendly clean agent and is good for an extinguishing a person who is on fire, thus its widespread use in film and television.

Our more modern looking extinguisher we are used to, made its debut in 1928, by its creator  DuGas (later bought by ANSUL). It features a cartridge-operated dry chemical extinguisher, which uses sodium bicarbonate specially treated with chemicals to render it free-flowing and moisture-resistant. It contained a copper cylinder with an internal CO2cartridge. The operator turned a wheel valve on top to rupture the cartridge and pressed a lever on the valve at the end of the hose to discharge the chemical. This was the first agent available for large scale three-dimensional liquid and pressurized gas fires but remained a specialty type until the 1950’s, when small dry chemical units were marketed for home use. ABC dry chemical came over from Europe in the 1950’s, with Super-K being invented in the early 60’s and Purple-K being developed by the US Navy in the late 1960’s.

Ansul Suppression History

1915- Frank Hood purchases Bastol Company and renames it ANSUL to reflect its primary product, ANhydrous SULfur Dioxide, for the mechanical refrigeration market.

1946- Ansul introduces a totally revamped line of fire extinguishers; uses its dry chemical know-how to develop new dry chemical extinguishing agents

1960- Ansul develops first automatic fire suppression systems to protect restaurant cooking equipment and mining vehicles.

1982- Ansul introduces R-102 wet chemical restaurant system for the safeguard of cooking equipment – appliances, hoods, and ductwork.

1990- Ansul introduces INERGEN clean-agent fire suppression systems to replace to Halon 1301. Soon after, a new SAPPHIRE clean-agent alternative is added to the ANSUL clean-agent line.

1998- Ansul introduces PIRANHA restaurant fire suppression system featuring the first hybrid concept using wet chemical with water follow-up.

Amerex Fire

Beginning in 1971, Amerex Corporation has expanded to become the world’s largest and most pioneering manufacturer of hand portable and wheeled extinguishers for commercial and industrial applications.

With the establishment of state-of the-art gas detection systems along with pre-engineered fire suppression systems for vehicles, commercial cooking operations and paint spray booths, Amerex has earned a standing for excellence in the fire protection industry.

The fire protection industry has seen widespread advances take place over the past 50 years and most test standards have been modified to keep up with modern day fire hazards. While other companies have been in the fire protection industry longer than Amerex, no other company has exceeded the quality, service and innovation provided by Amerex Corporation in recent times. With quality products, continuous innovation and excellent customer support, Amerex Corporation is unparalleled in its pioneering efforts to provide better fire protection throughout the world.

Badger Fire Protection

Badger Fire Protection is an ISO-registered company that has been manufacturing industrial fire extinguishers for more than 100 years. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, Badger offers a broad range of industrial fire extinguishers, dry chemical fire suppression systems and Range Guard, the nation's first commercial kitchen wet chemical fire suppression system. Badger is a part of Carrier Global Corporation, a world leader in HVAC, Refrigeration, Fire & Security solutions.

Buckeye Fire Equipment

For over four decades, Buckeye Fire Equipment has been an international leader in the growth and manufacturing of reliable fire protection products.

A privately-owned and operated company with its headquarters near Charlotte, NC, Buckeye Fire Equipment has gained an excellent reputation for quality, reliability and value within the commercial and industrial fire protection industry.

We offer a complete line of handheld and wheeled fire extinguishers, extinguishing agents, fire suppressing foam concentrates & hardware and pre-engineered kitchen suppression systems.

To make certain our distributors and customers get the highest quality of fire protection equipment, all of our goods undergo rigorous testing, both in-house and by third party testing organizations–such as Underwriters Laboratories, U.L. Canada, Factory Mutual, ASME and the U.S.Government.

We are dedicated to useful and responsive customer service and knowledgeable and trustworthy technical support. This commitment has earned Buckeye Fire Equipment the coveted ISO 9001-2015 Quality Certification.

Contact us for more information about our broad selection of company products and services. We have qualified personnel who are ready to assist you with your fire protection needs.