What is class K fire?

What Are Class K Fires? A Class K fire is fueled by flammable cooking liquids, such as cooking oil, and animal or vegetable-based greases. These liquids, when brought up to high temperatures, become volatile and can easily ignite.

What is Class K fire extinguisher?

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.

Can Class K fires be used on any class of fire?

Only the Class K Fire Extinguisher is compatible with wet chemical agents. Every commercial kitchen should have a Class K extinguisher to supplement the suppression system. The use of a multi-purpose ABC extinguisher may prove ineffective to extinguish a kitchen fire and can also result in damage to cooking equipment.

How do you fight a Class K fire?

No other type of fire extinguisher will be successful at putting out a Class K fire. Class K fires can only be extinguished with Class K extinguishers, and should never be sprayed with water as this can increase the spread of the cooking liquids.

What color is a Class K fire extinguisher?

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.

Class K Fire Extinguishers vs Other Agents

Where are Type K fire extinguishers required?

1 requires class K fire extinguishers be provided for hazards where there is a potential for fires involving combustible cooking media (vegetable or animal oils and fats). Based on these two requirements, there is confusion with regard to requiring class K extinguishers for stove top cooking.

Can you use a Class K fire extinguisher on an electrical fire?

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.

Where should a Class K fire extinguisher be placed?

Unlike the other classes of fire extinguishers, there is no distance requirement for Class K extinguishers. According to the OSHA requirements, the extinguisher to be located at the point of anticipated cooking for ignition.

How does a Class K extinguisher work?

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.

How do you extinguish a potassium fire?

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.

Do you need a Class K fire extinguisher at home?

A class K fire extinguisher is used to put out fires containing vegetable and animal oils and fats. A Class B fire extinguisher is sufficient for most household kitchen fires, but Class Ks are ideal for commercial kitchens.

What is the difference between Class B and K fires?

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.

When fighting class K fires you should first try to?

Saponification is the quickest and most effective way to fight class K fires. Fire extinguishers rated for use with class K dangers always contain a wet chemical extinguishing agent which turns the cooking oil and fat that is serving as fuel to soap.

What are Class ABCD fires?

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.

What is the best fire extinguisher for a kitchen?

BC fire extinguishers are appropriate for kitchens, workshops, garages, and boiler rooms, since these areas often have the potential for both chemical or liquid fires, as well as electrical.

What is class F fire?

Class F fires are fires which involve cooking oil or fat. Though technically a sub-class of fires caused by flammable liquids or gases, they differ from conventional fires due to the extremely high temperatures involved.

Is ABC fire extinguisher OK for kitchen?

For the kitchen it's generally recommended to have a multi-purpose fire extinguisher, such as one for Class A-B-C fires, or one that can specifically handle Class B or K fires.

Can Class D fires be extinguished with water?

They may react violently with water or other chemicals and must be handling with care. The NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) recommends that Class D fires be fought with “dry powder” extinguishing agents.

What are the 4 types of fire extinguishers?

There are four classes of fire extinguishers – A, B, C and D – and each class can put out a different type of fire. Multipurpose extinguishers can be used on different types of fires and will be labeled with more than one class, like A-B, B-C or A-B-C.

Can you touch potassium?

It is commonly known as lye or potash. Potassium hydroxide is a caustic chemical. If it contacts tissues, it can cause severe damage, such as burning or ulcers, on contact. This article discusses poisoning from swallowing or touching potassium hydroxide or products that contain this chemical.

What metal explodes in water?

For decades, science enthusiasts have delighted at the famously energetic way sodium and potassium explode on contact with water.

What color is potassium?

Potassium metal is soft and white with a silvery lustre, has a low melting point, and is a good conductor of heat and electricity. Potassium imparts a lavender colour to a flame, and its vapour is green.

Why is potassium explosive?

On the one hand, the chemistry is clear: The highly unstable pure sodium or potassium wants to lose an electron, and this splits the water atom, producing a negatively charged hydroxide ion and hydrogen and forming an explosive gas that ignites.

What is FDNY Purple-K unit?

Purple-K, also known as PKP, is a dry-chemical fire suppression agent used in some dry chemical fire extinguishers.