Nowadays antique firefighting equipment is very much in demand by
firefighting memorabilia collectors worldwide. One particular item which always
draws attention is the antique fire extinguisher.
The earliest types of antique fire extinguisher date back to the early
1700’s. These antique fire extinguishers were of a primitive design consisting
of a cask filled with a fire retardant liquid, incorporated in the internal
construction of the cask was a gunpowder charge connected by a light-able fuse.
The fuse would be lit which ignited the gunpowder which in turn exploded the
cask releasing the liquid onto the fire.
The first modern type of antique fire extinguishers were patented
in the early 1800’s. They consisted of a mixture of compressed air and potassium
carbonate in a copper cylinder. On operation the compressed air would expel the
potassium carbonate at the base of the flames.
A further development of this design was patented in France in 1866, which
utilized the the internal mixing of water, sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid
to produce carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide gas was directed at the seat
of the fire to extinguish the flames
Further enhancements to these early types of antique fire extinguisher were
being made worldwide. An American named Almon Granger developed an antique fire
extinguisher which worked by mixing sodium bicarbonate with sulfuric acid
producing carbon dioxide gas which pressurized and propelled water contained in
the copper shell through a small direction hose to the seat of the fire.
The next stage in the development of the antique fire extinguisher came
in 1905 with the first chemical foam extinguisher. Its main working principle
was similar in many ways to the previous soda/acid types. The main cylinder
contained a mixture of water, foaming compound and sodium bicarbonate.
Inside the main body of the cylinder was a small chamber of aluminum sulfate
which is sealed with a lead cap. When the antique fire extinguisher was turned
over the chemicals mixed resulting in the formation of carbon dioxide, which
produced a thick light brown foam.
As technology improved in the early 1900s a new form of antique fire extinguisher came to the forefront the carbon tetrachloride extinguisher manufactured by Pyrene. Characterized by its chrome or brass holding cylinder and the hand pumped action this extinguisher was very popular with the auto industry due to its suitability to be used on liquid and electrical fires.
Around this time a series of glass bottle liquid carbon
tetrachloride filled fire extinguishers were produced. The glass bottle or bomb
as it was known would be launched at the seat of the fire breaking on impact
releasing the fire suppressant CTC liquid which immediately vaporized and
snuffed the flames.
With the advent of the boom of telecommunications industry in the US, a new type
of non conductive fire extinguisher was required to deal with the numerous
electrical switchboards fires.
In stepped the Walter Kidde Company with their CO2 designed antique
fire extinguisher. This particular fire extinguisher featured a metal shell
containing carbon dioxide gas, a controllable wheel valve at the top, a
directional woven brass hose fitted with a dispersing funnel at the end.
Another type of antique fire extinguisher was developed to handle in particular
pressurized gas fires This extinguisher consisted of a large copper outer casing
containing a dry chemical charge of sodium bicarbonate which was expelled by an
internal cartridge of carbon dioxide gas. This dry chemical antique fire
extinguisher was manufactured by DuGas who were later bought by Ansul and this
form of fire extinguisher was particularly popular for small domestic use
The US Army in combination with DuPont introduced a new type of fire extinguisher specifically to deal with Class A fuels in the early 1970’s the Halon 1211 extinguisher. The only negative side to the Halon antique fire extinguishers was their non environmentally friendly properties which resulted in severe restrictions in their use in certain countries. In other countries where the laws are more relaxed they still are used.
Center Grove Fire Department