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Extinguisher Type Typical building area

Water Craft rooms

Workshops

Assembly hall stages

Along escape routes

Foam Boiler room

Foam or ABC

Powder

Laboratories

Home economics rooms

Kitchens

CO2 Electrical switch rooms

Rooms with much electronic

equipment (e.g. IT rooms, stage

lighting control areas)

Fire extinguisher applications

5.4.2 Fire hose reels

Fire hose reels are often overlooked or discarded as a

possible option in favor of portable fire extinguishers.

However, when fitted with a mist nozzle they can

generate a wide spray with a dense mist. This provides a

very effective extinguishing tool that is much simpler to

use by untrained persons than portable fire extinguishers.

Due to maintenance costs, however, many education

establishments are replacing fire hose reels with water

extinguishers.

5.4.3 Fire buckets

Even the simple fire buckets filled with fine sand may still

have their place in certain situations. Although largely

superseded by more modern technology, they still retain

some distinct advantages in suppressing small incipient

fires due to their ease of use by untrained persons. The

extinguishing effect relies on the smothering of an

incipient fire, effectively starving the fire of oxygen. The

buckets should have lids to prevent contamination and

the sand must be dry. Sand is useful for containing

spillages of flammable liquids, but is not suitable for

burning metals. It is recommended that two buckets of

sand should be provided in each laboratory, together

with an appropriate fire extinguisher.

5.4.4 Fire blankets

Fire blankets are useful for smothering small fires

involving cooking fat or other flammable liquids. They can

be useful in both kitchens and laboratories. They are also

invaluable in dealing with incidents where a person’s

clothing catches fire, where the fire can be effectively

smothered by wrapping the person in a fire blanket and

rolling them on the floor.

5.5 Areas requiring special attention

When planning the extinguishing concept for a college or

university building, the following areas should be given

special attention:

 Cleanrooms

 Archives

 IT and electrical plant rooms

 Kitchens

Cleanroom laboratories

Cleanrooms present a number of fire risks that require an

extinguishing solution. In the majority of cases the

extinguishing solutions for cleanrooms are aimed at

object protection (such as handling and packaging

machines, solvent and acid bays, chemical distribution

cabinets, etc). Object protection is the preferred solution

due to the complexity of planning an extinguishing

system in combination with the sophisticated air

circulation concepts typical encountered in cleanrooms,

which often include specific low or overpressure areas

that cannot be altered. Additionally, the combination of

high fire risk and the value of specific pieces of

equipment may make it logical to opt for an object

protection extinguishing solution.

In cleanrooms, the preferred extinguishing agents are

generally inert gases. Extinguishing solutions based on

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), Argon (Ar) and Nitrogen (N₂) offer

fast and reliable extinguishing for all three major fire

classes: Class A (solids), Class B (flammable liquids) and

Class C (combustible gases). Inert gases are chemically

neutral, which is a great advantage when protecting all

types of cleanrooms. It means that neither the machines

nor the goods under production will be damaged or

contaminated. Additionally, N₂ and Ar are non-toxic,

colorless, odorless and tasteless (important advantages in

the pharmaceutical and food industries).

For certain cleanrooms, however, the criticality of the

process demands a room protection extinguishing

solution. This is the case in certain biochemistry and

microelectronic cleanrooms.

In cleanrooms with continuous overpressure, the use of

Nitrogen (N₂) is recommended. Based on high pressure

technology (200 - 300 bar), it offers flexibility in

engineering and reliable extinguishing. When the

cleanroom is under constant low-pressure, chemical gas

agents such as 3M™ Novec™ 1230 are recommended.

Based on the efficient and environmentally friendly fire

protection fluid, it ensures flooding of the room within 10

seconds and rapid extinguishing before any equipment

can be severely damaged.