Why Every Kitchen Should Have Fire Blankets
19th Apr 2017
Updated Dec 2020
In 2020 20% of house fires in the UK were shown to have started at a cooking appliance*.
This highlights the importance of having fire safety equipment in your kitchen to stop small fires from spreading.
A fire blanket is specifically designed to handle small contained fires usually found in a kitchen.
Common oil pan fires are difficult to deal with using traditional extinguishers. The latter are often too powerful; the force can spray hot flaming oil from the pan and cause burns or even secondary fires.
Similarly, water fire extinguishers (or containers) must not be used to douse an oil fire, as the combination of hot oil and water can cause an extremely dangerous reaction.
Another alternative to a fire blanket is a damp tea towel; however this takes time to prepare, allowing fires to potentially run out of control, and the tea towel might well burn through before the fire is out.
By contrast a fire blanket (usually stored a short distance from the cooking appliance) is designed to withstand very high temperatures. The fire blanket is simply draped over the flame to exclude oxygen and extinguish the blaze. It should then be left in place for at least 15 minutes in order for the hot oil to cool down.
Read our other uses for a fire blanket blog
*Home office: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/e524e424-037b-46e9-bdc4-df4150baa505/fire-statistics-cause-of-fire
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