The emulsion type intumescent fire retardant coatings based on poly (vinyl acetate acrylate) emulsion, polyacrylic emulsion, poly (styrene acrylate) emulsion or poly (vinyl chloride vinylidene chloride) emulsion were formulated. The fire resistance and the mechanical properties were studied. It was found that poly (vinyl chloride vinylidene chloride) emulsion has quite good fire resistance, but its mechanical properties were not ideal. The intumescent structure of the coating could be improved and the fire resistance could be enhanced by adding phenol formaldehyde resin or melamine formaldehyde resin in poly (vinyl acetate acrylate) emulsion, polyacrylic emulsion or poly (styrene acrylate) emulsion.