What is fire extinguishing?
To understand what fire extinguishing is, we first need to look at what fire actually is. Fire occurs when all three elements of the fire triangle are present: fuel, oxygen, and heat. Once these come together, flames appear. To extinguish a fire, at least one side of the triangle must be removed. This is usually done by lowering the temperature, for example with water. But it can also be done by removing oxygen, for example with foam or a fire blanket.
Different types of fires require different extinguishing agents. Water is often used for solid materials, foam for liquid fires, and CO₂ for electrical installations. For trainers, it’s important to make this distinction clear. A company first responder needs different tools and scenarios than a firefighter.
History of portable fire extinguishers
The first small extinguishing devices appeared in the 19th century. These were often copper or brass cylinders filled with water or soda. Around 1910, the first portable fire extinguishers appeared, using a chemical reaction to build pressure and expel water or foam. Over the course of the 20th century, more specialized extinguishers were developed, such as the CO₂ extinguisher for electrical installations and the powder extinguisher for vehicles and industry. Although powder was long popular, it is being used less today due to its corrosive properties and the mess it leaves behind.
Fire extinguishing is the most essential part of fire suppression. In this blog, we look at how this skill can be practiced, the choices involved, and which materials are suitable for it.
Difference between Company First Responders and the Fire Brigade
When it comes to firefighting exercises, there is a big difference between training for Company First Responders and training for firefighters. That’s why we divide this blog into two parts: first, the use of firefighting techniques in Emergency Response training, and then their use in firefighter training.
Fire Extinguishing in Emergency Response Training
Portable extinguishers for real fire scenarios
In Emergency Response training, the focus is often on acting safely and quickly during the early stages of a fire. Portable extinguishers such as foam or CO₂ units are the standard tools for this. For practicing with real fire scenarios, the Vesta Fire Extinguisher Trainer is an excellent choice. This gas-powered trainer produces realistic flames that remain fully under the instructor’s control.
Practicing with real portable extinguishers can be costly, as extinguishers are empty after use. That’s why the Neptune training extinguisher system was developed. Its refillable extinguishers allow trainees to practice repeatedly without the need to purchase new units each time. With the Neptune Filling System, the training extinguishers can be quickly and easily refilled with air and water, with or without foam. This makes training both affordable and sustainable.
Extinguishing a simulated fire
In places like server rooms or hospitals, you don’t use real extinguishers on live fires. Instead, you opt for simulated fire scenarios and simulated extinguishing. This way, any location can be turned into a training environment.
The Pandora’s Box V4 is an excellent tool for creating such fire scenarios in Emergency Response (BHV) training. It’s a wireless, all-in-one solution for generating fire effects with light, sound, and smoke, controlled via your own phone or tablet. Combined with the Apollo training extinguishers, it creates an interactive training setup. Trainees use an extinguisher with a realistic weight and authentic sound effects. The nozzle features a powerful blue LED to simulate the extinguishing action. Meanwhile, the instructor can use Pandora’s Box to make the fire respond — the flames can grow or shrink, smoke or steam can appear, and eventually the fire can be extinguished.
This method is clean, safe, and can be used anywhere. In addition, the training extinguishers run “empty” after about twenty seconds, adding time pressure for the trainee.
The instructor plays a key role in this process. They evaluate the trainee’s actions and control how the fire scenario reacts. This principle forms the core of the exercise: the trainer assesses whether the extinguishing attempt is carried out correctly and can adjust the training dynamics accordingly.
Interactive extinguishing
To set up a fully autonomous training, you can connect the Apollo LED training extinguishers to the Pandora’s Box V4. When the trainee starts extinguishing, the fire scenario responds automatically and will gradually go out. This allows participants to practice their procedures and extinguishing techniques independently. In this way, you can get even more value out of your training sessions.
Variants and international differences
FireWare offers a wide range of portable training extinguishers to meet every need. The Apollo LED training extinguishers are available in both foam and CO₂ versions. The same applies to the refillable Neptune training extinguishers — only the nozzle needs to be switched, and a different filling can be chosen.
In the Netherlands, we use extinguishers with a squeeze handle, and CO₂ extinguishers are equipped with a flat horn. Abroad, however, you will also encounter strike-button extinguishers and CO₂ extinguishers with a round horn. This means there is significant international variation in the design of portable extinguishers. The FireWare range is therefore broad and tailored to these differences. For example, we even supply special blue safety pins for the French market, while the rest of the world generally uses yellow ones. In this way, we provide a suitable solution for every country and every situation.
Fire Extinguishing in Firefighter Training
Simulated fire scenarios for maximum control
Firefighter training is about much more than simply extinguishing a fire. Procedures, teamwork, command and control, reconnaissance, recognizing RSTV signals, and hose-laying systems are just a few of the training objectives. Sometimes extinguishing plays such a minor role that the exercise ends before that point is reached, while at other times it’s crucial that the staging around the extinguishing process is completely accurate.
Simulated fire scenarios combined with the Pandora’s Box 230 offer maximum control for the instructor. He or she can adjust the fire scenario directly from a phone, responding to the participants’ actions and allowing the exercise to evolve dynamically. This makes it possible to escalate, de-escalate, and extinguish simulated fires as needed.
Dynamic fire behavior during extinguishing
A realistic training exercise requires fire scenarios that respond to the actions of the trainees. If water is applied to a grease fire, a flare-up should occur. In the case of an electrical fire, a short circuit can be simulated, and if the cooling power is insufficient, the fire should reignite. This dynamic response greatly increases the educational value and makes the exercise feel lifelike.
So be prepared: think in advance about the situations you want to simulate and ensure your setup is ready to respond accordingly.
Steam forming during firefighting
When water is applied to a fire, the energy of the fire is used to evaporate the water. As a result, with proper extinguishing technique, there is not enough heat left to sustain the combustion reaction. What appears in return is steam. This reduces visibility and allows heat to penetrate through clothing. It’s no coincidence that firefighters don’t always choose a direct extinguishing approach.
For your training setup, this means you need to be able to produce an extra burst of smoke during the extinguishing process. Make sure you have a smoke machine with sufficient reserve capacity and precise output control — for example, a FireWare Cumulus or Stratus. The fire scenario can be continuously supplied at 50% output, leaving enough capacity for a sudden burst to simulate steam formation when the extinguishing action takes place.
Firefighting with water
The advantage of a scenario that can actually be extinguished is that crews are truly engaged in the firefighting task. This increases pressure on resources and command, making it necessary to scale up more quickly. However, you must take into account in your staging that water will be used. Use waterproof flame effects such as FireSpots (Original, MK2, or XXL). Make sure smoke machines are protected and direct the smoke using a smoke hose.
Hybrid staging
A powerful method is hybrid staging: combining gas-powered and simulated fire scenarios. The Vesta fire trainer is ideal for this. Outdoors or against a building, a Vesta can be used for a realistic water-based extinguishing exercise, while indoors simulated fire scenarios run simultaneously.
This creates a versatile and challenging training setup where real water extinguishing can take place, even if the rest of the scenario is simulated and water use is not desirable there.
Adrenaline during training exercises
A well-designed, realistic training exercise triggers adrenaline in the participants. They believe they’re dealing with a real incident and act accordingly. It’s not uncommon for someone to open a fire hose nozzle, even if that wasn’t part of the plan. Using check valves prevents this. The hoses remain pressurized but will never discharge water. This way, the sense of realism is maintained without the risk of damage from unintended water use.
Training kits for firefighting exercises
With years of experience in developing, selling, and using training equipment, we at FireWare know exactly what you need for a realistic and effective training setup. To help you get started easily, we’ve put together a range of ready-to-use training kits. This way, you’re fully equipped to take your exercises to the next level in one go. Below are some examples. For a complete overview of all our training kits, visit our website.
- Neptune Extinguishing Kit: Includes all components needed to get started with refillable training extinguishers: two extinguishers, the refill station, and a compressor. Foam for foam filling and CO₂ cartridges for CO₂ training extinguishing are also included.
- Firefighting Exercise Kit: Combines an Apollo training extinguisher (foam or CO₂) with a Pandora’s Box V4 for interactive training at any location.
- “Fire Without Smoke” Set Small and the“Fire Without Smoke” Set Large – Based on Nebula blind masks and Apollo training extinguishers, ideal for locations where smoke generation is not desired or allowed.
- Fire Simulation Kit V4: Designed for realistic and safe practice with simulated fire sources. All components can be controlled remotely, giving you full control over the fire scenario.
- Simulation Set Small, Simulation Set Medium and Simulation Set Large: Contains everything to create a dynamic fire simulation without extinguishing agents. Controlled via Pandora’s Box 230 and equipped with various flame effects.
Conclusion
Firefighting is an essential part of fire suppression, but the way it’s practiced depends entirely on the training objectives and the target audience. Company First Responders mainly train with portable extinguishers and familiar scenarios, while firefighter training focuses on intensive water deployment, dynamic fire behavior, and complex fire scenarios. FireWare offers tailored solutions for both groups — from compact starter kits to advanced systems — ensuring every exercise can be realistic, educational, and highly effective.
Want to find out what works best for you? Call or email us. We’re happy to help you design the perfect training setup!
