Through the years, fire safety devices have gone through evolutionary changes. The demand for high-quality firefighting equipment grew with an increasing number of people recognizing the significance of fire protection. As a result, the fire safety industry grew at an exponential rate. But even today, there is a single type of device that is considered more important than other equipment: the trusty fire extinguisher.

Portable fire extinguishers of all sizes and types have helped avoid major disasters and thus, saved countless lives. Although they are seen almost everywhere today, from shopping malls to stadium venues to large warehouses, fire extinguishers were not always this commonplace. In fact, the modern fire extinguisher has only been around for a couple of centuries. This begs the question: how did people quickly put out fires before the extinguisher? In this article, we examine the elaborate history associated with fire extinguishers as well as how they came to be in their present form.

The Historical Past of Fire Extinguishers

When you think about it, the origins of a fire extinguisher can really be traced back to a spark; when primitive cavemen struck two stones together whose friction generated a spark that bellowed into a fire. Yes, there certainly would have been no fire extinguisher without fire itself. However, historians have traced the genesis of fire extinguishers back to civilized Greece in 200 BC. The extinguisher, then in the form of an easily-operable hand water pump, was able to quickly disperse a fire before it spread. This basic design of a fire extinguisher was optimized and modified to resemble a syringe-like contraption that would squirt out water through a nozzle to smother the flames. Although this type of fire extinguisher was useful in putting out small fires, it did not come in handy when dealing with blazing fires. Skip to early 18 th century, when a curious chemist named Ambrose Godfrey put out a patent for the first fire extinguisher ever. The mechanism was based on a fire-extinguishing liquid being released upon ignition of gunpowder housed in a pewter chamber.

The working model of this extinguisher was used to invent several other variations such as the compressed-air extinguisher in 1818 and the soda-acid extinguisher in 1866. The familiar carbon-dioxide and foam fire extinguishers weren’t invented till 1924 by the Walter Kidde Company in the United States.

The Modern Fire Extinguisher

Over the years, the technology behind fire extinguishers have undergone serious changes in composition, size and even color. Today, this fire safety device is at the forefront of any firefighting provision and justifiably so. The evolution of fire extinguishers means that customers have a wide range of choices currently such as the Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher, Foam Fire Extinguishers, CO2 Fire Extinguishers, Water and Water Mist Fire Extinguishers, Wet Chemical Fire Extinguishers, and so on. In order to comply with the best fire safety practices, you need to have your fire extinguishers serviced and refilled regularly. Most instances of fire damage are caused due to leaky, dilapidated extinguishers. Get the best fire extinguisher services in Bangalore at SRJ Piping India. 

Contact us today on +91-804-1663637/9880591727 or drop in at our head office for a quick consultation with the best fire safety technicians in the city.