Fires are one of the deadliest killers and can break out easily if you aren’t careful of fire hazards. A fire can break out in your home or working environment when you least expect it and it’s important that you are prepared.

You should always have an extinguisher nearby and understand the fire evacuation procedures. Most importantly though, if the worst should happen and you do get caught in a fire, you need to consider fire burn prevention.

What to do if Your Clothes Catch Fire?

If your clothes do catch fire, it’s a natural reaction to panic. However, to ensure fire burn prevention, you should try to remain calm and follow some of these tips:

Stop, Drop & Roll

This is the classic tip that you’ll hear from all fire safety professionals. If your clothes catch fire, you should:

·        Stop what you’re doing.

·        Drop to the ground, covering your face if you can, to prevent the fire spreading to this sensitive area.

·        Roll over on the source of the flame until the flame goes out.

Remember, fires need oxygen to grow and spread. Rolling on the floor prevents oxygen getting to the fire and snuffs it out.

If you run, you’re only providing more fuel for the fire, meaning it’ll spread more quickly.

Fire Blankets

If someone in your vicinity catches fire, you may be able to locate a fire blanket.

Fire blankets are usually contained in red boxes next to doorways or above fire extinguishers in rental properties or commercial buildings. It’s unlikely that you’d have one in your own home.

To use a fire blanket, simply tug on the straps to pull the blanket out of the holder. You should then wrap the blanket around the person on fire during their stop, drop and roll procedure. This smothers the flames and stops them from growing.

As soon as the fire is out, allow the areas to cool and call 999 as soon as possible, speaking calmly so that they can send help as quickly as possible.

Minimise the Risk of Fire

The most common place for a fire outbreak is in your own home. There are lots of everyday items around you that can cause flames to break out.

To minimise the risk of a fire, you need to ensure you regularly check for and remove risks.

·        Always ensure that you don’t stand too close to your hob when cooking. Having long sleeves or baggy clothing near an open flame is asking for trouble.

·        Chemicals such as paints or fertiliser are usually placed inside your shed or outbuilding and forgotten about. On a hot day, these items are prone to spontaneously combust, creating a fire. Make sure you throw away any old paints.

·        Smoking indoors is one of the biggest risks when it comes to starting a fire. If you forget and leave a cigarette butt smoking, or fall asleep with a cigarette in your hand, the furniture is prone to catching fire very quickly and you may not have time to act.

To ensure proper fire burn prevention, you should conduct regular safety checks of your home and working environments to ensure that risk factors are dealt with and removed, minimising the risk of a fire break out. Northants Fire are here to help, so feel free to contact us if you’d like a visit.