For the candle extinguisher, see candle snuffer. A fire extinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or bicarbonate of soda replacement small fires, often in emergencies. There are two main types of fire extinguishers: stored-pressure and cartridge-operated.
In stored pressure units, the expellant is stored in the same chamber as the firefighting agent itself. Depending on the agent used, different propellants are used. The first fire extinguisher of which there is any record was patented in England in 1723 by Ambrose Godfrey, a celebrated chemist at that time. It consisted of a cask of fire-extinguishing liquid containing a pewter chamber of gunpowder. This was connected with a system of fuses which were ignited, exploding the gunpowder and scattering the solution.
Thomas J Martin, an American inventor, was awarded a patent for an improvement in the Fire Extinguishers on March 26, 1872. His invention is listed in the U. Patent Office in Washington, DC under patent number 125,603. The soda-acid extinguisher was first patented in 1866 by Francois Carlier of France, which mixed a solution of water and sodium bicarbonate with tartaric acid, producing the propellant CO2 gas.