What Are Fire Blankets Used For?

Fire blankets are an important addition to home or workplace safety kits. These blankets should be placed in easily accessed areas where fires are most likely. In the home, for example, the kitchen is an ideal room to keep a fire blanket.

Uses

Fire blankets are used to extinguish flames on individual or small fires in the home or elsewhere. Manufacturing companies, especially those that manufacturer flammable items, often have fire blankets on hand in addition to other fire safety items.

Features

Fire blankets are commonly wool blankets that have been treated with fire retardant chemicals, although other materials (Kevlar/fiberglass, for example), instead of wool, are also used and are becoming more common. In addition, some fire blankets contain soothing gel to cool burns on victims.

Benefits

Fire blankets are portable and easy for the average person to use. These blankets can be used to extinguish chemical or grease fires (grease and some chemical fires cannot be extinguished with water).

Accessories

You can buy fire blankets along with special canisters or sacks to hold the blanket. These items have holes and/or brackets so that they can be conveniently mounted on a wall.

Time Frame

Fire blankets are best only for small fires and you must leave them on long enough to smother the fire. For some fires, such as grease fires, this may take longer than you think (20 to 30 minutes in many cases). During this time, you should be taking other precautions, such as alerting others in the home or dialing emergency services in case the fire continues and gets out of hand.