The fire blanket, a current trend in fire safety products, has recently been touted out as a top-choice for residential fire protection. But, trying to separate fact from fiction when it comes to fire safety can be difficult. Since this is in fact, a matter of life and death, having ALL the info you need to make an informed purchase is a non-negotiable. So, let’s find out if the fire blanket is really worth all the hype.
Fire blankets are meant to suppress a small fire by eliminating the fires access to oxygen; fire needs oxygen in order to continue burning (in most cases.) The concept isn’t new, it’s the same idea behind fire extinguishers in fact. But the execution is a bit different.
First off, in order to deploy a fire blanket the user must put their body over the fire – EEEKK! I think we’re all aware that getting up close and personal with an active blaze isn’t recommended. In all likelihood, the untrained person is going to be very hesitant to put themself into that situation during a real fire emergency. A fire blanket that is not deployed over the fire completely or is laid haphazardly will be ineffective AKA will not put the fire out. On the flipside, this personal safety risk is considerably minimized with fire extinguishers which have a discharge distance (distance from the extinguisher to the fire) ranging from 5 to 20 feet!
The second foreseeable issue with fire blankets goes back to that whole “eliminate the oxygen thus suppress the fire concept.” It’s an awesome idea- again, that’s how most fire extinguishers work: the chemical agent is deployed over the whole fire which cuts off its oxygen supply thus extinguishing the fire completely. The operative word there being “completely.” If the blanket does not cover the fire entirely then the fire still has oxygen and it will continue to burn + grow! Fire blankets therefore can only be trusted in situations where they can totally envelope the fire. To put this in perspective, the best-selling fire blanket online is 40” x 40” about the size of a large suitcase. So, if you have an area of fire that is any larger than a suitcase or wider, or oddly shaped, or so on then what? In comparison, the smallest sized residential fire extinguisher can tackle anywhere from 5 to 10 square feet of fire- about the size of a fully engulfed oven! (And considerably more than a large suitcase!)
If these aforementioned problems weren’t enough to deter you from opting for a fire blanket, then we have just one more fact that we think may sway you… There is NO standard, no testing, no approvals for fire blankets. Fire extinguishers, on the other hand, are all certified by Underwriters Laboratories; they must meet strict safety standards. Fire extinguishers have long been the preferred method of first defense for fires… that is why they are required in all commercial establishments. Fire blankets are not required in any. In fact, if you hadn’t already guessed it, they aren’t even recommended! Yes, while the idea behind the fire blanket is solid its shortcomings make it an ineffective, untrustworthy, and dangerous means of fire protection. Our recommendation is you leave the fire blanket online where it belongs and keep a fire extinguisher IRL.
