A fire blanket is a safety device designed to extinguish incipient (starting)

fires Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are pr ...

. It consists of a sheet of a fire retardant material that is placed over a fire in order to smother it. Small fire blankets, such as for use in kitchens and around the home are usually made of

glass fiber Glass fiber ( or glass fibre) is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass. Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the inventio ...

and sometimes

kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

, and are folded into a quick-release contraption for ease of storage. Larger fire blankets, for use in

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physic ...

and industrial situations, are often made of

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

-- sometimes treated with a

flame retardant The term flame retardants subsumes a diverse group of chemicals that are added to manufactured materials, such as plastics and textiles, and surface finishes and coatings. Flame retardants are activated by the presence of an ignition source and ...

chemical such as hexafluorozirconate and

zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'' ...

acetate. These blankets are usually mounted in vertical quick-release container so that they can be easily pulled out and wrapped round a person whose clothes are on fire. Fire blankets, along with fire extinguishers, are fire safety items that can be useful in case of a fire. These nonflammable materials are stable in temperatures up to 1300 °C for Nextel ceramic fibres, 1200 °C for glass fibers, Kevlar (480 °C), and wool (570 °C). These are useful in smothering fires by reducing the amount of oxygen available to the fire. Due to its simplicity, a fire blanket may be more helpful for someone who is inexperienced with fire extinguishers.

Dangers

Asbestos in old blankets

Some older fire blankets were made of woven asbestos fibres and are not NFPA rated. This can pose a hazard during the decommissioning of old equipment.

Extinguishing oil/fat fires

After initial investigation in 2013, and later in 2014, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority issued a statement that fire blankets should never be used to extinguish an oil/fat fire such as a chip pan fire, even if the icons or text on the blanket indicates the blanket may be used in such a case. This includes fire blankets which have been tested according to BS EN 1869. In the investigation out of the 22 tested fire blankets, 16 of the fire blankets themselves caught fire. In the other 6 the fire reignited when the blanket was removed after 17 minutes. The Dutch Fire Burn foundation reported several accidents involving the use of fire blankets when extinguishing oil/fat fires. Consumers may send in their existing fire blankets, which will then receive a sticker stating 'niet geschikt voor olie- en vetbranden' ("not suitable for oil- and fat fires"). New products will have this text printed, rather than stickered.

Operation

For a fire to burn, all three elements of the

fire triangle The fire triangle or combustion triangle is a simple model for understanding the necessary ingredients for most fires. The triangle illustrates the three elements a fire needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing agent (usually oxygen). A fir ...

must be present: heat, fuel and oxygen. The fire blanket is used to cut off the oxygen supply to the fire, thereby putting it out. The fire blanket must be sealed closely to a solid surface around the fire. Fire blankets usually have two pull down tails visible from outside the packaging. The user should place one hand on each tag and pull down simultaneously removing the blanket from the bag. The tails are located near the top of the fire blanket which allows the top lip of the fire blanket to fold back over the users' hands, protecting them from heat and direct contact burns. Cover the fire with the fire blanket, and it will help cut the oxygen supply and extinguish the fire. You can also use this method when a part of the body catches fire. The fire blanket must be sealed closely to a solid surface around the fire.

Maintenance

The Fire Industry Association (FIA) publish a "Code of Practice for the Commissioning and Maintenance of Fire Blankets Manufactured to BS EN 1869". The FIA's code of practice recommends that the responsible person ensures that such fire blankets are subject to annual maintenance by a competent service provider. It also recommends that consideration should be given to the replacement of fire blankets after seven years from the date of commissioning (or as otherwise specified by the fire blanket's manufacturer).

Gallery

File:Fireblanket demonstration.webm File:Fire_blanket.jpeg

References

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