Ways to Extinguish Different Types of Small Fire

Fire, be it a small or huge one, can prove to be dangerous and deadly. According to National Fire Protection Association, there were 1,345,500 fires reported in the United States in the year 2015 and they caused 3,280 civilian deaths. It goes without saying that you must call 911 whenever there is an accidental fire and it puts the lives of you and your loved ones at risk. After the fire has been extinguished, you can also consider hiring fire damage restoration professionals to lessen the amount of damage caused due to fire.

There are different types of fires that erupt in your surroundings and different ways to extinguish them. Let us acquaint ourselves with each one of them and know how to deal with them as and when they occur.

Cooking fires

This is the most common kind of fire that erupts in any house. Whenever there is a cooking fire, consider shutting the oven off, cover the pan with lid or use Type B extinguisher. Try not to move the pan as it can spatter oil and spread the fire further. Also, turning the exhaust fan on is the last thing you should do as it can add oxygen to the fire. If there is a fire in the oven, try to cool it off by keeping the door closed. This is because if the fire comes in contact with the air, it can grow worse. You can also sprinkle a lot of baking soda on the food.

Fire caused due to electrical equipment

As people are quite used to extinguishing fire with water, they make a huge mistake of pouring water over the fire caused by electrical equipment. This leads to further accidents as water is a good conductor of electricity. So avoid committing such mistakes any cost. During electrical fire, pull the plug out from the socket (if possible) or switch off the appliance. You can also control the fire by covering it with blanket or Type C extinguisher.

Television

You may have never imagined a Television being caught on fire. However, there is a possibility of it being on fire when the air around it doesn’t have enough space to circulate causing a lot of heat in the area around it. Even when there are other objects close to it like candles, curtains or knickknacks, the heat from the TV can ignite these objects causing a fire. When a TV catches fire, the best thing to do is to unplug the cord and try to put the flames down with a fire extinguisher. Refrain from using the blanket as it can spread the fire further.

Fireplace wood stoves

If you use fireplace stove, there might be chances of it catching fire. To avoid this, use dried wood and refrain from using flammable liquid. Once the cooking task is over, dispose the cool ashes in a metal container. Also when the cooking process is on, don’t leave the fire unattended. Don’t keep flammable materials near it and keep the glass screen closed.

These fires might start small but can turn into an unimaginable tragedy if not controlled in a right way. We hope that the above guide will be of great help in controlling small fires.

Karin Glassner is the owner of Service Master By American Restoration Services, Inc, a franchised restoration and cleanup service provider operating in long Island, New York, specializing in fire damage restoration services.