Fire blanket
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A fire blanket is a safety device designed to extinguish small incipient (starting) fires. It consists of a sheet of fire retardant material which is placed over a fire in order to smother it (see below).
Small fire blankets such as, for use in kitchens and around the home, are usually made of fibreglass, 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 (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[1].
Some 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. Newer blankets such as Titan21 Fire Blanket; made with 100% cotton; are not treated with a flame retardant but are however treated with an environmentally safe product called Hartindo AF21 that is referred to as a fire inhibitor.
[edit] How fire blankets work
In order for a fire to burn, all three elements of the fire triangle must be present: heat, fuel and oxygen. 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, or surrounding it, the job of the blanket is to cut off the oxygen supply to the fire, thereby putting it out.
In using a fire blanket, it is important to protect the hands; the picture at the top of this page shows the correct procedure, in which the blanket is folded around the hands to protect them from the heat while it is applied.
[edit] Fire ratings
It is important to ensure your fire blanket has an NFPA rating that meets both 701 and 2112 ratings.
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