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Extinguisher type · Signal violet band

Signal violet fire extinguisher: Class D special powder

First: raise the alarm, get out, call the fire service

UK: However, if in doubt, employees should not put themselves or anyone else at risk, but simply raise the alarm, leave the premises, and call the fire and rescue service. HM Government (GOV.UK), A guide to making your small non-domestic premises safe from fire (accessible version), section ‘Fire extinguishers’

US: If you're unsure about whether it is safe to use a fire extinguisher, and for all other situations, alert others, leave the building, and call 911 from a mobile or neighbor's phone. US Fire Administration (FEMA), Choosing and Using Fire Extinguishers, ‘Help people decide when to use a fire extinguisher’

Signal violet band on a red body. Not the blue of the ordinary ABC powder.

Colour code
Powder Class D SIGNAL VIOLET London Fire Brigade (London Fire Commissioner), Fire Safety Guidance Note GN08: Hand Held Portable Firefighting Equipment, Rev 20, §4.3, colour table
UK/EU classes named for it
Class D
US classes named for it
Class D

What the guidance says it is for

  • CLASS D: Fires involving metals Special powder extinguishers (size and type according to risk), dry sand (quantity according to risk). Seek specialist advice. London Fire Brigade (London Fire Commissioner), Fire Safety Guidance Note GN08: Hand Held Portable Firefighting Equipment, Rev 20, §3.2, table of classes
  • There are special dry powder extinguishers but these are typically used only on flammable metals such as magnesium and titanium. Surrey County Council (Surrey Fire and Rescue Service), Extinguishers and fire blankets, ‘Dry Powder Extinguishers’

What the guidance says not to use it on

None of the guidance on this page lists another class of fire for a Class D powder extinguisher, and London Fire Brigade adds ‘Seek specialist advice.’ The blue multi-purpose powder is a different extinguisher, and GOV.UK says of it: ‘Do not use on metal fires.’

In the US

US extinguishers are not colour-coded by agent; read the letters on the label.

The label is the authority

Other colours

Sources

Official guidance only: UK government, UK fire and rescue services, the Fire Industry Association, NFPA, OSHA and the US Fire Administration. Words in quotation marks are theirs.