A firefighting extinguishing composition and method of making a firefighting extinguishing composition is provided. The firefighting extinguishing composition includes a suspension system comprising water and at least one suspending agent. The firefighting extinguishing composition also includes a first polysaccharide that is soluble in the suspension system. The firefighting extinguishing composition also includes a second polysaccharide that is insoluble in the suspension system but soluble in water alone. The firefighting extinguishing compositions can be used in many firefighting applications, including structural fires, packaging fires, material fires, tire fires, coal fires, peat fires, wild fires, bush fires, forest fires, and other similarly naturally occurring and industrially based fires.