Element Fire Extinguishers are a Better Way to Quickly Slay a Fire

Choke on it, Fire

Every second counts when a fire starts, especially in a race car or a shop that’s full of combustible materials. If you can’t get a fire under control quickly, the chances of injury or total loss rise dramatically.

Element Fire Extinguishers are the better way to fight a fire. Unlike traditional fire extinguishers that can be heavy and awkward to operate, Element extinguishers are significantly smaller—up to 80% smaller—and are simple to activate. More importantly, they discharge fire suppression agent for a longer period of time. For example, an Element E50 extinguisher has a 50-second discharge time—four times longer than a typical extinguisher with a five pound bottle—and the larger E100 has a 100-second discharge time. That puts the maximum amount of suppression agent on a fire before it has a chance to get out of control.

How Do They Work? It’s Elemental, My Dear Watson…

Element extinguishers use solid potassium nitrate powder as the suppression agent. When the extinguisher is activated, the powder shoots out in a stream that immediately oxidizes and turns into a gas that attaches to the oxygen feeding the fire, depriving it of its main fuel and short-circuiting the combustion process. The potassium particles have a slow degradation rate, which helps prevent a new fire from starting once the initial fire is extinguished. Potassium is also non-toxic and leaves no residue to clean up.

Element Fire Extinguishers have no moving parts or compressed gas so they’re safe and never need servicing. They’re unaffected by extreme temperatures, humidity, or vibration, and can be used to fight all major classes of fire:

• Class A: combustible materials like wood, fabric, and plastic
• Class B: flammable liquids and gases like fuel, oil, and propane
• Class C: electrical
• Class K: cooking oils and grease

Summit Racing also carries surface and roll bar mounts for Element Fire Extinguishers so you can keep them handy if a fire ever breaks out.