How do you use a fire extinguisher?
Pull the pin, aim low at the base of the fire, squeeze the lever slowly and evenly, and sweep the nozzle side to side, per the U.S. Fire Administration.
The U.S. Fire Administration teaches the four steps as the word PASS. Pull the pin, holding the extinguisher with the nozzle pointing away from you, and release the locking mechanism. Aim low, pointing the extinguisher at the base of the fire. Squeeze the lever slowly and evenly. Sweep the nozzle from side to side.
Source: U.S. Fire Administration
This page is general information, not professional advice, and it is not legal advice. Fire code is adopted locally, so the schedule that governs your building comes from your own fire marshal and your insurer.
The four rules that come first
The step most guides leave out is the decision. The U.S. Fire Administration publishes a checklist to run before picking an extinguisher up at all: have I alerted others in the building that there is a fire, has someone called the fire department, am I physically able to use a fire extinguisher, and is the fire small and contained to a single object or surface such as a pan or a wastebasket. It adds two more: am I safe from the fire's toxic smoke, and do I have a clear escape route.
Source: U.S. Fire Administration
Its instruction on what to do with those answers is the closest thing to a golden rule anyone publishes: use a fire extinguisher when all of those questions are answered yes. If you are unsure whether it is safe to use one, and in all other situations, alert others, leave the building, and call 911 from a mobile or a neighbour's phone.
Source: U.S. Fire Administration
The extinguisher goes between you and the way out, never the other way round. If it stops being a small fire, you leave.
Who should not be using one
The U.S. Fire Administration is direct about this: young children and older adults should not use fire extinguishers. Its buying advice is the other side of the same point — choose the largest extinguisher a person can still safely and comfortably operate. A unit nobody in the building can lift off the bracket and control is not protection.
Source: U.S. Fire Administration
Using the wrong extinguisher makes things worse
The agent has to match the fire. The U.S. Fire Administration separates them by class: ordinary combustibles are Class A, flammable liquids such as grease, gasoline and oil are Class B, energized electrical equipment is Class C and needs an agent that does not conduct electricity, and cooking oils and fats in cooking appliances are Class K. Multipurpose units labelled B-C or A-B-C cover most home fires; they do not cover Class K.
Source: U.S. Fire Administration
If you are not sure what is on your wall, read what the classes and the label mean.
The monthly look that keeps it working
OSHA requires portable extinguishers to be visually inspected monthly, and that check belongs to the building rather than to a contractor. The U.S. Fire Administration lists what to look at: that nothing is blocking or limiting your ability to reach it, that the gauge shows the recommended pressure, that the can, hoses and nozzles are not damaged, dented or rusted, and that any dust, oil or grease on the outside has been wiped off.
It takes under a minute per unit and it is the difference between an extinguisher and an ornament. It is also the one piece of fire protection nobody can be hired to do for you.
Questions people ask next
- What does PASS stand for on a fire extinguisher?
- Pull, aim, squeeze, sweep. Pull the pin with the nozzle pointing away from you, aim low at the base of the fire, squeeze the lever slowly and evenly, and sweep side to side.
- When should you not use a fire extinguisher?
- Whenever you cannot answer yes to all of the U.S. Fire Administration's checks — others alerted, fire department called, physically able, fire small and contained, safe from smoke, clear escape route. Otherwise leave and call 911.
- Should children use a fire extinguisher?
- No. The U.S. Fire Administration states that young children and older adults should not use fire extinguishers, and advises choosing the largest unit a person can safely and comfortably operate.
- How often should I check my own extinguishers?
- Monthly. OSHA requires a monthly visual inspection, done in the building rather than by a contractor — access, gauge pressure, no damage or rust, and the outside wiped clean.
Written for building owners by Most Recommended Fire Protection, which measures which fire protection companies AI assistants actually recommend. Nobody can pay to be on those lists. How we measure.