British Captain George William Manby invented the modern fire extinguisher in the year 1818. Francois Carlier of France patented the first soda-acid extinguisher in 1866. In 1881, Read & Campbell of England invented the cartridge-operated extinguisher by water based solutions.

In 1924, the Walter Kidde Company invented the carbon dioxide (CO2) extinguisher. A cartridge-operated dry chemical extinguisher which used sodium bicarbonate came out in 1928.