What is class K fire? (2023)

What is class K of fire?

Class K fires involve vegetable oils, animal oils, or fats in cooking appliances. Extinguishers with a K rating are designed to extinguish fires involving vegetable oils, animal oils, or fats utilized in commercial cooking appliances.

Class K fire extinguishers offer improved fire control for cooking fires by: Minimizing the splash hazard. Forming a soapy foam on the surface of the hot cooking oil, holding in the vapors and steam, and smothering the fire. (A process known as saponification.)

Class K fires involve cooking appliances that use cooking media such as vegetable or animal oils and fats. Extinguishers that are suitable for Class K fires are identified by the letter “K”.

A Class K fire extinguisher uses a fine wet mist consisting of an alkaline mixture, such as potassium acetate, potassium carbonate, or potassium citrate that forms a soapy foam as it is applied to the cooking oil or other substance, quenching the steam, vapors, and the fire's risk of re-ignition.

Regardless of the size of the fire, immediately activate any alarm systems to notify the building occupants to evacuate. Immediately call 911 from a safe location to notify the nearest fire department to initiate their response. The safety of employees and guests should always take precedence over fighting a fire.

Class K fire extinguishers work by saponification. Saponification takes place when alkaline mixtures are applied to burning cooking oil or fat creating a soapy foam on the surface that holds in the vapors and steam and extinguishes the fire.

Saponification takes place when alkaline mixtures such as potassium acetate, potassium citrate, or potassium carbonate are applied to burning cooking oil of fat. The alkaline mixture combined with the fatty acid creates a soapy foam layer on the surface which holds in the vapors and steam and extinguisher the fire.

Class K fires are most likely to start in commercial kitchens, including restaurants but also office cafeterias, food trucks, bakeries, and other food businesses. These businesses should be equipped with Class K fire extinguishers as part of a complete fire protection plan.

If you have a kitchen or cooking area in a commercial building, you must have a Class K extinguisher within 30 feet of any cooking appliance. As mentioned above, the exception is for a kitchen in a residence.

Class ABC fire extinguishers are designed to be used on all classes of fires except Class D fires. Class BC fire extinguishers are designed to be used on flammable liquid and electrical fires only. Class K fires involve cooking oils. PULL the retaining pin on the handle of the fire extinguisher.

When were Class K fire extinguishers invented?

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.

Class K fire extinguishers are for fires that involve cooking oils, trans-fats, or fats in cooking appliances and are typically found in restaurant and cafeteria kitchens. The geometric symbol indicating Class K is a black hexagon.

Wet Chemical Fire Extinguishers. Wet Chemicals are Class K fires. Wet chemical fire extinguishers are used on deep fat fryer fires and fat fires. If you are in a commercial cooking industry, this extinguisher is a must-have.

Wet Chemical (Yellow) Wet chemical fire extinguishers are red with a yellow label. It works by making chemical changes to burning oils, making them non-combustible.

Class A: solid materials such as wood or paper, fabric, and some plastics. Class B: liquids or gas such as alcohol, ether, gasoline, or grease. Class C: electrical failure from appliances, electronic equipment, and wiring. Class D: metallic substances such as sodium, titanium, zirconium, or magnesium.

There are four classes of fire extinguishers – A, B, C and D – and each class can put out a different type of fire.

Fires can be classified in five different ways depending on the agent that fuels them: Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class K. Each type of fire involves different flammable materials and requires a special approach.

Fire: Use Class D extinguisher such as Met-L-X or smother the fire with dry sand. Do not use water, carbon dioxide or halogenated extinguishing agents. Spill: Control all sources of ignition.

There are 5 main fire extinguisher types – Water, Foam, Dry Powder, CO2 and Wet Chemical. To ensure you're adequately protected, and you meet current fire safety regulations, you need to have the right types of fire extinguisher for your business premises.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is stored in extinguishers in the liquid phase. It vaporizes when released thereby smothering a fire by excluding the air (oxygen) needed for combustion.

How many classes of fire are there?

There are four classes of fires: Class A: Ordinary solid combustibles such as paper, wood, cloth and some plastics. Class B: Flammable liquids such as alcohol, ether, oil, gasoline and grease, which are best extinguished by smothering.

PURPLE K is a high performance extinguishing agent most effective for dealing with flammable liquid fires. Suitable for use on Class B and Class C fires.

Class K Fire Extinguishers for Commercial Kitchen Fires

Even though the ABC fire extinguisher may be able to temporarily put out the cooking fire, the class K fire extinguisher with it's wet chemical agent will help make sure it does not reignite.

While Class K fires do involve flammable liquids, please be aware that Class B fire extinguishers (rated for flammable liquids such as petroleum and gases) are not efficient to handle the high-temperature cooking oil and grease fires that occur in kitchens.

How many fire categories are there? There are six primary fire classes classified according to the igniting agent. Solids, gases, liquids, metals, kitchen oils, and electricity all come with different fire risks. Depending on the fire's cause, some extinguishers are ideal, while others can cause more harm than good.

Class A fires are the most common type of fire. They are produced from common combustible materials including wood, paper, fabric, rubber, and plastic. Class A fires have relatively low ignition temperatures, and once the fuel or oxygen has been depleted, the fire will burn out.

There are four classes of fire extinguishers – A, B, C and D – and each class can put out a different type of fire.

What are the 3 types of fire extinguishers?

According to OSHA, air pressurized water, carbon dioxide (CO2) and dry chemical are the three most common types of fire extinguishers, with wet chemical extinguishers also used often.

There are four classes of fires: Class A: Ordinary solid combustibles such as paper, wood, cloth and some plastics. Class B: Flammable liquids such as alcohol, ether, oil, gasoline and grease, which are best extinguished by smothering.

Oxygen, heat, and fuel are frequently referred to as the "fire triangle." Add in the fourth element, the chemical reaction, and you actually have a fire "tetrahedron." The important thing to remember is: take any of these four things away, and you will not have a fire or the fire will be extinguished.

Black – Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Yellow – Wet Chemical.

CO2 fire extinguishers are mainly aimed at electrical fires but are also suitable for Class B liquid fires and are used in different ways depending on the type of fire they are being used on. Do not use CO2 extinguishers in small rooms as CO2 gas is poisonous at only 4% concentration and can kill at just 8%.

Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) is a fire suppressant used to extinguish flammable liquid fires such as fuel fires. AFFF is often used in shipboard and shore facility fire suppression systems, fire fighting vehicles, and at fire training facilities.

A Class C fire is the burning of flammable gases, which can be very dangerous and highly explosive. These include gases such as butane and propane in gas canisters, which you'd expect to find in certain building trades. You will also find these with gas camping stoves and gas barbeques.