Which fire fighting equipment can be used on electrical fires?
For small fires CO2 or dry chemical (not powder, that’s used for combustible metal fires) extinguishers will work if the equipment is still energized. This will render the equipment useless due to the corrosive nature of the dry chemical and the moisture in the CO2. Most companies use a total flooding system of Halon, but Halon is being phased out. Normally when we fight fires, we always de-energize the equipment and then extinguish with water. It’s much safer. Otherwise, firefighters don’t mess with electricity. We call in the power company to shut off the power and then go to work.
