Wheeled fire extinguishers come in all different shapes and sizes, and they can be filled with many different types of fire extinguishing agents. The vast majority of the wheeled extinguishers in the Koorsen collection are soda/acid or foam types. With a capacity ranging anywhere from 10 to 40 gallons, these extinguishers must be transported to the scene of the fire on wheels by one or two people.

Because of the size of these extinguishers, they were most often used by fire departments or in large businesses such as factories or warehouses. They served as the precursor to the chemical trucks on display at the museum, and would use a chemical reaction to generate pressure to expel the liquid inside at a higher rate than the smaller extinguishers in the collection.