We analyse the phenomenon of heat wave propagation in a catalytic fixed-bed according to a pseudo-homogeneous model and in the special case of a single reversible first-order reaction. Besides the well known so-called slow heat waves, fast heat waves (or travelling waves of the first type) are found to propagate in a sufficiently extensive bed. We study the factors that initiate such fast waves and the effect of various parameters (kinetic and heat) on their behavior as well.