By Damian Brad
fire blanketsWe live in a very technological era with most things around us plugged in or requiring a charge to keep powered. A typical household including my own has many gadgets and gismos including digital TVs, cordless phones, laptops, gaming devices just to name a few. .
Don’t get confused like a well intentioned person I once met who mistook an electric blanket for a fire blanket. The good old fire blanket doesn’t require batteries or charging and it does “exactly what it says on the tin“. A simple idea yet it could prove to be a very useful device (piece of safety equipment) to have handy either at home or at work.
A fire blanket is a safety device designed to extinguish small incipient fires. It consists of a sheet of fire retardant material which is placed over a fire in order to smother it. A fire blanket either completely surrounds a burning object or is placed over a burning object and sealed closely to a solid surface around the fire. Whether the blanket is placed on top of the fire or surrounding it, the job of the blanket is to cut off the oxygen supply to the fire thereby putting it out. If you are familiar with the fire triangle a flame requires heat, fuel & oxygen to combust. Smothering a flame with a fire blanket will remove the oxygen and hence starve the flame.
Small fire blankets such as those used in kitchens and around the home are usually made of fibreglass sometimes Kevlar and are folded in to a quick-release container for ease of storage.
Larger fire blankets for use in laboratory and industrial situations are often made of wool and sometimes treated with a flame retardant fluid. These blankets are usually mounted in vertical quick-release cabinets so that they can be easily pulled out and wrapped round a person whose clothes are on fire.
Many older fire blankets were made of woven asbestos fibre and are not NFPA rated. This can pose a hazard during the decommissioning of old equipment
Fire blankets are normally made of woven fibre glass which becomes brittle after use. They should cover the flame until all is safe. They are not reusable. All manner of fires can be put out with a fire blanket or even a damp cloth. When using one make sure you cover your fingers with the corners of the blanket or you will burn them as you put the blanket on the fire. Practise now before you have a fire!!
Fire blankets can be used to throw around a person whose clothes have caught fire or to smother the fire. Other possible uses would be to smother a small free-standing fire, or to wrap someone protectively who needs to pass through an inflamed area to get to safety.
You can get your FIRE BLANKET from Ash Fire and Safety.
phone Damian on +353 (0)87 8450902 &
we will get one to you, regardless where you are in the world.
It's as simple as that.
Keep safe and
Never give fire a chance.
