Fires can have devastating and destructive consequences for homes and businesses. But you can take the necessary steps to protect your home. There’s never a bad time to be prudent about fire safety.
In every fire emergency, every second counts! You need to act fast to assess the situation because a fire can spread easily in just under 30 seconds. It’s very important for everyone; this includes your family or colleagues in the workplace, to be ready for any sudden fires.
Here’s a list of things you need to know about fires:
How a fire occurs is not exactly a mystery, everything can be explained through science. In fact, the air around us contains about 21% oxygen, and fires only need 16% of that oxygen to burn.
Oxygen is the key ingredient in the fire triangle: heat, oxygen and fuel source. By cutting off oxygen, you instantly stop the chemical chain reaction that leads to the combustion process. Thus, killing the fire.
When people get distracted or negligent with their daily activities, it sometimes leads to circumstances that can start a fire at the home. Incidents such as a cooking fire left unattended in the kitchen can have disastrous results. Whilst we perhaps know about cooking fires, the risks now extend into the bedroom. Faulty phone chargers left plugged in all day are a growing problem for New Zealand emergency services, whilst leftover cigarettes discarded on bedding or carpets, and even kids playing with matches are in decline – In the office the risks remain the same and the above are just a few examples of how things can quickly go south and easily combust.
You’d be surprised to learn that fire experts try to estimate the scope of a fire through the language of the flames, or what they technically refer to as fire behavior– this is a technical way to figure out the possible fire path and sources of ignition.
Truth is, fires are unpredictable and there are many factors that can accelerate its behavior. Most fire protection equipment can handle the small onset of these fires, in fact, you can act quickly with the right fire safety equipment, such as a fire extinguisher or fire blanket, protecting lives and assets.
Reliable fire protection equipment can buy you some time and its fire suppression properties will do keep the fire small, manageable or even extinguish the flames. Do everything you can to keep the starter fire from becoming a flashover (a transition fire that eats ups the total surface area of all the combustible materials).
A flashover is something else entirely, it’s a kind of fire behavior that develops into a big, rapid-fire- this is a fire situation that only a fire department can handle.
But let’s focus on fires just starting. There are many incidents of un-reported fires because fire blankets were able to put out the starting fires before they could combust beyond the cooking area. But what exactly are fire blankets?
They are highly flame resistant and can be used by anyone inexperienced and experienced alike in fire safety to put out small fires.
A fire blanket can handle a small Class A or Class F fire. Ordinary combustible fires involving organic and solid materials such as wood, fiber, paper are called Class A fires. Cooking fires involving grease or oil are called Class F fires.
How to Use a Fire Blanket
A fire blanket is very intuitive and an easy to use a fire safety device. It has 2 pull-out tabs that release the folded blanket from inside the pouch.
You can put out a small fire in just 3 steps:
- Roll the blanket edges to cover your hands.
- Release the blanket over the burning area
- Seal the fire blanket around the fire to cut off the oxygen.
Once the fire blanket covers the fire, it will start smothering the flames. Where it is safe to do so, turn off the fuel source in the area – this can be things such as a gas stove. Within seconds, you will see smoke coming through the blanket, don’t worry, fire blankets on average have temperature resistance up to 500 Celsius (which is over 900 Fahrenheit). But make sure to leave the fire blanket on the fire for 15-30 minutes. Pulling it off early can cause the fire to reignite. Leave the fire blanket there until it is cool to touch. There is no such thing as ‘too much time’ to leave a fire blanket on.
Fire blankets are also handy when it comes to personal safety. If you need to escape a burning property, you can use a fire blanket to cover your body. It will protect you against the flames.
If you find yourself or your clothes on fire, cover your body immediately in a fire blanket, then drop to the ground and start rolling. This fire safety maneuver will help extinguish the flames. Stop. Drop. Roll.
Fire blankets are just one of the equipment necessary for fire protection and tools you can get through Fireco’s residential and commercial fire safety solutions. Fireco is the #1 Professional Fire Safety Solutions for your home and business in the Northland and Auckland areas.
Fireco takes fire safety very seriously. We offer fire protection products in New Zealand with the highest level of reliability when it comes to fire safety. Our fire safety products perform their best when you need them most. Our fire blankets meet the stringent government code of practice which is specifically the Australian New Zealand Standard AS/NZS3504.
