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Extinguisher type · Canary yellow band

Canary yellow fire extinguisher: Wet chemical

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’

Canary yellow band on a red body, usually with the Class F pan pictogram on the label.

Colour code
BS 5306-10 also requires extinguishers to have an area-coloured canary yellow over between 3% and 10% of the surface area of the cylinder. Fire Industry Association, Fact File 99: Class F Fires, Version 1, §5 Class F extinguisher standards
UK/EU classes named for it
Class F
US classes named for it
Class K

What the guidance says it is for

  • Wet chemical fire extinguishers are specialist and are yellow in colour. They are used for Class F fires including cooking oil or fat fires only. Avon Fire & Rescue Service, Fire extinguishers (business fire safety guidance), ‘Wet chemical’
  • The majority of extinguishers designed for cooking oil fires extinguish by forming a layer on top of the oil, thereby removing the oxygen and maintaining that layer. This allows the oil to cool to below the auto ignition temperature, therefore preventing re-ignition. Fire Industry Association, Fact File 99: Class F Fires, Version 1, §4 Class F extinguishers
  • If there is risk from cooking, involving fat fryers or similar equipment, a fire blanket and a Class F fire extinguisher (which is a type of extinguisher specifically intended for use on burning fats and oils) should be provided in the kitchen or cooking area. HM Government (GOV.UK), A guide to making your small non-domestic premises safe from fire (accessible version), section ‘Fire extinguishers’

What the guidance says not to use it on

  • It is not recommended to change the media in conventional water, foam or powder extinguishers in an attempt to convert to a Class F extinguisher. Fire Industry Association, Fact File 99: Class F Fires, Version 1, §6 Warning

In the US

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

Not for, in US guidance

  • Also keep in mind that if a Class K fire extinguisher is installed, there still needs to be extinguisher(s) available for any other combustible materials in the area since oftentimes a Class K extinguisher can’t be used on an ordinary combustibles fire, flammable liquids fire, electrical fire, or combustible metals fire. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), What Is a Class K Fire Extinguisher? (NFPA Today blog, Brian O’Connor), ‘Where should I install Class K fire extinguishers?’

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.