In accordance with the standard BS EN 3, fire extinguishers in the United Kingdom and all over Europe are Red RAL 3000 and a band or circle of a second colour covering at least 5% of the surface area of the fire extinguisher indicates the content of the fire Extinguisher - and the class of fire it can be used on.
There are six fires classes recognised in the UK. Each class of fire has a different type of fuel.
Class A fires are fires where the combustible substances are organic solids such as paper and wood,
Class B fires the combustible substances are liquids,
Class C fires involve flammable gases,
Class D fires involve metals,
Class E fires involve live electrical items
Class F fires the combustible substances such as cooking fat or oils.
| Type | BS EN 3 Colour Code | Fire Class | |||||
| Water | Signal Red | A | |||||
| Foam | Red with a Cream panel above the operating instructions | A | B | sometimes E | |||
| Dry Powder | Red with a Blue panel above the operating instructions | A | B | sometimes C | E | ||
| Carbon Dioxide CO2 | Red with a Black panel above the operating instructions | B | E | ||||
| Wet Chemical | Red with a Canary Yellow panel above the operating instructions | A | F | ||||
| Class D Powder | Red with a Blue panel above the operating instructions | D | |||||
The capacity of fire extinguishers are established according to the class of fire using numbers and letters such as 13A, 55B.