All You Need To Know About Fire Blankets

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Fire blankets are a useful piece of fire safety equipment to have around the home or in an industrial situation. Small blankets designed to put out a small fire as soon as it starts can be kept in quick release containers for easy storage. They are particularly good to have in the kitchen, although should not be kept too close to the cooker, as it might not be reachable in the case of fire.

They are ideal for using on chip pan fires, which should never be tackled with water due to the risk of explosion. Outdated safety advice used to recommend placing a wet tea towel over a pan of burning oil, but this is no longer considered safe - use a fire blanket instead.

Larger fire blankets for industrial use are also available and would be typically found in a laboratory. This type of blanket would usually be made of wool coated with a fire retardant substance and could be easily thrown around a person whose clothes had caught fire.

They are also useful in situations involving electrical equipment, as a liquid type extinguisher could damage a computer for example. Another use for a fire blanket would be to wrap around yourself if you needed to escape from a fire.

In years gone by, fire blankets would have been made from asbestos, however this is no longer the case now we know the health risks associated with asbestos.

A fire blanket works by surrounding or covering an object or person who is on fire. This then cuts off the supply of oxygen to the fire - oxygen being one of the elements of the fire triangle -making it impossible for it to carry on burning.

You should only use a fire blanket if it is safe to do so. They are only designed for small fires that have just started and you should make sure you have called the fire services before attempting to tackle it yourself. You need to wrap the fire blanket around your hands before using it to smother the fire as you will need to get quite close.

Some fire blankets can be reused if they are cleaned in accordance with the manufacturers instructions, other types should be thrown away after use.

Fire blankets are really easy to use, readily available from DIY stores or online and are quite inexpensive so would be a good addition to your home fire safety plan.

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Information on fire fighting equipment and fire extinguishers for home or commercial use



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