How to Extinguish a Fireplace
In the event of a fire in your home, it is essential to know how to extinguish a fireplace. To do this, you need water and a bucket or hose nearby. You will also want some protective gloves on before going near the flames. If the fire is small enough, use a shovel or other object that can be used as an extension of your arm to place wet material over it until there are no longer any flames coming up from underneath.
Cover them with a blanket made out of something like wool for larger fires, which will smother the flame by blocking oxygen flow. If you don’t have anything like that available, throw wet material onto the fire until no more flames come up through the surface. Continue reading this blog post to know more ways to extinguish a fireplace.
10 Things You Can Do: How to Extinguish a Fireplace
1. Smothering
Smother the fire by placing a sheet, rug, or other items over it and lifting slightly to allow air underneath. This is not recommended if there are embers still smoldering in the fireplace since that could cause your home to catch on fire.
2. Removing burning logs
If you want to put out a fire in a fireplace, you can remove one or two of the logs to reduce the airflow. You can also be extra cautious and place a metal pan or bucket over the burning logs and fill them with water.
3. Water
If there is a fire in your fireplace, it is not a good idea to pour water on it. The water could make the fire worse by causing steam and hot embers to fly up and damage your home. If you want to use water to put out the fire, you need to do it quickly. First, take the burning logs out of the fireplace if you can. Then, slowly pour water over the fire, aiming the water at the spaces between the logs.
4. Abrasive powders
If you don’t have any other options available, you can use baking soda or salt to put out a fireplace fire. Be sure not to use flour or powdered sugar because they’ll burn and could start more fires (and also look like ashes and could spread the fire further).
5. Create a toxic gas
For this to work, you need to have a working carbon monoxide detector in your home (this would only be safe if you were able to hear it going off; with no power or batteries, that is highly unlikely). You also need to know how to use this properly. Otherwise, you might have carbon monoxide poisoning.
Open all of the windows in your home, then light a match and bring it into the house. When the match burns out, immediately close all doors and windows to keep the carbon monoxide inside. Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, and you won’t see or smell anything unusual.
6. Use a fire extinguisher
If you have a fire extinguisher, you can use it while the flames are still small. Some people prefer to wait until they are larger before using an extinguisher. However, if your fireplace is in your home or near flammable objects, it’s safer not to take that risk. Make sure you are not standing close to the fireplace when using an extinguisher. Also, if your fire extinguisher uses chemicals, do not get them on any surfaces in your home because they could damage them.
7. Smothering with sand or salt
This only works for short-lived fires that have flames but very low heat. Do not use sand or salt if your fire is hot enough to shoot out sparks. Remove the burning logs from your fireplace, then scatter sand or salt onto the embers.
8. Stop the oxygen supply
You can use this method if you have something that covers most of the top of your fireplace with a metal grate in it (like an old mailbox, flat rack with bars going across horizontally, etc.). Remove the grate from your fireplace and heat it until it is glowing red.
Push the metal device into the base of your fireplace so that it covers most of the fireplace opening. The metal will absorb a lot of heat, snuffing out the fire. If you don’t have anything like this with you, you can use an old rug or board to cover the fireplace opening. Start with a large pot or bucket of water and splash it onto the fire. Don’t be shy with the amount you use. It will take quite a bit to put out a fireplace fire completely. Wait for the water to evaporate, then sprinkle more over the ashes. Continue this process until the ashes are cool to the touch.
9. Remove flammable objects
If you have any cloth, paper, or other flammable items hanging near the fireplace (such as drapes over a window), do not remove them. These things will help protect your house from the fire by catching it on fire. Instead, use metal tools to push them away from your fireplace if they are close enough to catch fire.
10. Stay far away
Finally, if a fire starts in your fireplace, stay as far away from the fireplace as you can and exit your home immediately. Do not try to put out a fire in your fireplace without having proper training, tools, or knowledge of what you are doing; otherwise, you might make things worse. If you have any other questions about your fireplace and what you can do to stay safe this winter, contact the experts at All American Chimney Service today!
Precautions and Safety:
1. Make sure your fire extinguisher is pressurized before operating (it should be checked yearly by the fire department).
2. You should know how to operate your fire extinguisher before needing it. Know what to use it on and how much pressure you need for each type of material.
3. Keep your extinguisher in an easily accessible spot.
4. If you are indoors, make sure your windows are closed and open easily if you need to jump out. You also want to be near a door or an escape route that can quickly be opened if required.
5. Do not use the fire extinguisher on electrical fires unless it is specifically designed for doing so (e.g., a Class C fire extinguisher).
6. Make sure there is nothing flammable around your fireplace before turning it on. This includes things like drapes, furniture, Christmas wrapping paper, etc.
7. Do not attempt to put out a fire by smothering it in pillows, couch cushions, etc. This makes the situation worse and can cause flare-ups.
Conclusion:
Fireplace extinguishing is an important part of any home safety plan. We hope this blog post has provided you with some helpful tips on how to extinguish a fireplace fire and what to do if the fire spreads. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact your local fire department or visit their website for more information about preventing fires in general. They will be glad to help!
Angela Ervin
Angela is the executive editor of DIY quickly. She began her career as an interior designer before applying her strategic and creative passion to lifestyle and home. She has close to 15 years of experience in creative writing and online content strategy for housekeeping, home decorations as well as other niche efforts. She loves her job and has the privilege of working with an extraordinary team. She lives with her husband, two sons, and daughter in Petersburg. When she's not busy working she spent time with her family.
