Fluorine Free Fire Extinguishers

PFAS (or fluorine) in foam, water additive and wet chemical fire extinguishers is to be banned in the EU in the near future. Whilst the official date is yet to be confirmed, it is likely to be as soon as December 2030, with the UK expected to adopt the same timeline. Kings Fire is dedicated to staying ahead of the evolving regulations, providing you with the products you need to keep your premises protected at the same time as being environmentally responsible.

Fluorine (PFAS) is a very cheap product that produces the foam effect and creates the strong bond over the fire. Every atom in fluorine is connected to at least 6 other atoms. This makes it a 'forever chemical' remaining in its form for more than 120 years! It is hardly surprising we need to remove this from fire extinguishers to help protect the environment. To create the same result and gain meaningful fire ratings we need to add twice the amount of foam compound to the water and make sure the hose nozzle is aspirated. An aspirated hose draws in air as the fluid flows to expand the volume and extinguish the fire.  

This makes it a 'forever chemical' remaining in its form for more than 120 years!

In line with these changing regulations, we are pleased to bring some exciting new developments to you. Our suppliers have been developing new PFAS-free fire extinguishers that will comply fully with the regulations. This has transformed our entire fire extinguisher range to ultimately become PFAS-free. The Green Crosshair – introduced this year under The Green Range – will now be a permanent feature on all of our fire extinguishers to represent them being PFAS-free.

Inevitably there is going to be range of fire extinguishers which are impacted by the PFAS ban and will now begin to be phased out over the coming months. 

Kings Fire will phase out PFAS fire extinguishers in line with our suppliers or sooner if possible. Our approach to ensuring that our current and future clients receive the appropriate fire extinguishers without a supply interruption is detailed below - 

• Foam Fire Extinguishers - We will be phasing out the 6ltr foam and 9ltr Foam fire extinguisher in line with our suppliers to ensure we can provide foam as an option with no break in the supply chain. At the time of writing this blog we expect the switch to PFAS-free foam fire extinguishers in December 2024 or January 2025. 
• MultiChem Foam Fire Extinguishers - These fire extinguishers are being discontinued around January 2025. There are a number of alternatives which range from Wet Chemical fire extinguishers to the new high performance foam fire extinguishers (PFAS free) which have a huge 27A & 183B fire rating. There is a possibility that a PFAS-free MultiChem fire extinguisher may become available again in the future although there is no set date.     
• Water Fire Extinguishers - We will be phasing out our 6ltr Water Fire extinguisher which contains an additive by the middle of October 2024. The replacement will be a 6ltr Plain Water fire extinguisher which carries the same 21A fire rating as the previous model and is 100% environmentally friendly. It has also passed a conductivity test should it be accidently used on a live electrical fire.
• Wet Chemical Fire Extinguishers - Both the 3ltr and 6ltr variants which contain PFAS (fluorine) are being phased out in December 2024 and January 2025 and being replaced with PFAS free fire extinguishers in the same sizes. 

It is important to remember that you DO NOT have to replace your fire extinguishers if they contain PFAS (fluorine) until such time as they become due for replacement (5 Years from new) or become unserviceable / Condemned. If you are told to replace fire extinguishers for this reason it is incorrect and you should seek another opinion. 

Kings Fire is committed to ensuring costs are kept to a minimum for our clients.

PFAS free Foam fire extinguishers especially will see an increase in price to the end user across the whole of the UK. This is down to the manufacturers who have had to spend vast amounts of money to get the new PFAS free fire extinguishers designed and passed through the very strict testing and certification required. Kings Fire is committed to ensuring costs are kept to a minimum for our clients who require foam fire extinguishers. We will do this by only specifying foam in areas that have a specific Class 'B' fire safety risk. Areas which do not present a Class 'B' risk will be specified with the Plain Water fire extinguisher which has also passed the conductivity tests should they be accidently used on a live electrical fire. 

This is a great opportunity for all of us to lead the way and to show our care of the environment, and we are pleased to do this through our commitment to provide the most environmentally friendly fire extinguishers possible.

And as always, the team here at Kings Fire are on hand to support you. If you do have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch with us – we are here to help you!