What is a Fire Blanket?
A fire blanket is a single, solid piece of fire-resistant material used to suppress a flame in the situation of a fire. This blanket is generally made of woven glass fiber and is important to keep on hand.
If a small fire breaks out in your home or office, you can use a fire blanket to control the fire. It can also be wrapped around a person whose clothing is on fire.
Before purchasing a fire blanket, you should ensure that it meets industry standards. Your blanket should be at least one meter by one meter so that it can be effective.
Where Should a Fire Blanket Be Kept?
According to Bin Dhahi, a fire blanket supplier in Dubai, don’t store your fire blanket alongside other winter throws. This isn’t just a wintertime item to cuddle up with, so do not keep it in the upstairs family room. Ideally, it should be kept at a location from where you can easily retrieve it.
Homeowners recommend keeping fire blankets in their kitchens, where large fires are most prone to occur. However, business owners usually put theirs in the community breakroom, near microwaves, stoves, and other flammable appliances.
Although these are ideal spots, do not place your fire blanket just beside the stove. Why?
If a fire breaks in or near your kitchen, the emerging flames can hinder you from reaching your fire blanket and therefore render it ineffective. Instead, keep the fire blanket near the entry to your kitchen. Thus, if the fire becomes uncontrollable, you can still escape the kitchen, take shelter, and seek rescue.
How Should a Fire Blanket Be Used?
It’s important to train your family or staff on the proper use of fire blankets.
Two of the ideal situations to use a fire blanket are as follows:
• Fire caused due to cooking with oil
• In the event of a clothes fire
Now, let’s study the proper procedure to follow when it’s time to use a fire blanket.
Step 1: Uncover the fire blanket
Most fire blankets are packaged in a manner that allows for easy wall storage. Two tabs will be placed at the bottom of these packages. Retrieve the blanket and pull the tabs down firmly in the event of a fire.
This will release the blanket.
Step 2: Hold the blanket
There is a proper way to hold a fire blanket.
Hold it upright in front of you, keeping it between you and the fire. To protect your hands, roll back the blanket’s edges where you are clutching it and wrap the material around your hands.
Step 3: Extinguish the Fire
The first instinct can be to throw a fire blanket on fire and escape. But, the blanket could fall off or miss the target in this case.
Carefully place the blanket on top of the flames if you’re dealing with a cooking grease fire. As you lay the blanket over the fire, cover your hands and face. Once it’s covered, don’t throw the blanket over the flames to reach the far side. If you do, the fire could spread to your hands.
What if a person is on fire?
Wrap a fire blanket around the garment of the person on fire. Never try to remove the garments first.
Tell the person to drop to the ground and roll in the blanket. Rolling should extinguish the fire.
Step 4: Block the heat source
After extinguishing a grease fire, cut off the heat source. Leave the blanket alone for 15 minutes before looking at it.
The area beneath it will burn, and the heat will escape as the flames die.