What type of fire would you use a fire blanket on?
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Fire blankets are good to use on fat pan fires on the cooker or for wrapping round someone whose clothing is on fire. They're ideal to keep in the kitchen, but they aren't good for general use. If you get one, make sure it conforms to British Standard BS 6575.
A localised fire that was not too fierce to get close to
a hot one.
You would need to use a fire blanket on fires which involve electrical items, chemicals, chip pan fires and people who have caught alight.
A fire on a cooker, say a cooking pan full of oil catching fire, that sort of thing, at a guess? That's certainly what I would use it on.
Any is good except flamable liquids, so any dry fires and chip pan fires.
One that was on something living.
Fire blankets are best used when you can wrap it around whats on fire, smothering it out easily when throwing water on it, or using an extinguisher is out of the question.
For all other fires, I would suggest smothering or use of an extinguisher.
on a pan fire, just put the lid on the pan, and it will smother it, or douse the whole area with flour, but the blanket will still have pockets for the fire underneath.
On an old stlye chip pan or anything burning fat or electrical fires as adding water will make it worse and not many houses have powder extinguishers (or blankets for that matter so that point is slightly redundant)
Also on a person if there is no water. But it's best on the previously mentioned chip pan. Just throw the sucker over and it wont ruin the other stuff on the hob like powder or foam.
When using a fire blanket, always open fully, hold in front of you to protect yourself, then in the case of a chip pan, place carefully over, you just do not want splilled burning oil. In the case of a person, wrap and roll.
As an aside (ish) My wife went to carry a pan of burning oil off the cooker to the door, and splilled the burning oil down her legs. Luckily, an old dear 2 doors down (she was 80, bless her) was wise enough to get her in a bath of cold water. At that point, I came in... I knew we had ice in the freezer, that went in the bath. Made sure wife was ok, phoned hospital, they said when she is more comfortable, bring her in wrap legs in wet towels, give us a call when you leave home. Well, all this happened, and after a week or 2...no more than a pair of sunburnt legs, no lasting injury at all.
As lots of people have already answered, mainly use for the chip pan type of fire - BUT, make sure to discard the blanket after use & get a new one, don't re-use it. Also make sure you leave it over the fire for long enough. If you remove it before the fire has competely cooled it could re-ignite.
they are best in the kitchen oil and grease fires
small fires in the kitchen mainly
they're no good for big things like a nuclear power station meltdown. I don't think they tried using one at Chernobyl for example...
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