Question Fire Blanket

[Joe Hogan]

Anyone use these Fire Blankets? Purchased a few for home and vehicles. Sounds like a better option than a fire extinguisher in many cases. For a confined fire, no messy fire retardant everywhere.

 

[Rich W.]

An alternative to dry chem is an attractive idea, but I can’t see a fire blanket being of much use on an electrical fire under the dash or even an engine fire. They have to be able to cut off oxygen to the fire to work and since it seems most coach fires start under the dash or in the engine compartment, they probably wouldn’t work. Maybe for a stove top fire but in most cases these are in a pan and you can simply “put a lid on it” as they say in home fire safety classes. Halon is great for avoiding a mess, but it is only effective in enclosed spaces (it works because its heavier than air) and of course it can also be an asphyxiant.

The best solution, if you want to avoid dry chem would be a CO2 extinguisher like this for inside 466180 - CO2 Fire Extinguisher | Kidde Home Safety or this for a larger threat like an engine compartment fire Kidde 466181 Pro 10 CD Fire Extinguisher . I‘d still keep a couple 2A10BC extinguishers handy and just deal with the mess if you ever need one. Chances are that will be a minor problem by comparison.