Our Collection: Extinguishers

Fire Extinguishers

The museum owns about 400 extinguishers from the United States and Great Britain. Most are portable extinguishers of from 1 quart to 3 gallons. Many are of the grenade variety, both water and Carbon Tetrachloride based. Many are cylindrical 19th century dry chemical type extinguishers.

The museum also owns about a dozen wheeled extinguishers. Some of these are of the English variety that was popular in large homes, schools, and office buildings at the turn of the nineteenth century. Others are “chemical carts” with one or two thirty gallon tanks equipped with water, sodium bicarbonate and sulfuric acid that were very popular in the United States between 1880 and 1940. We also have more modern foam, dry chemical, and carbon dioxide carts.