Fridge fires and mitigation

[hairyben]

Simpo Two said:

Hang a plastic gallon container of water above the back. When the fire melts the plastic the water will put the fire out...

Theres a great idea for automatic heat-activated fire extinguishers, maybe slimline ones that fit behind stuff.

[Nickyboy]

karma mechanic said:

Perhaps an adhesive metal layer (sticky-backed thick metal foil?) would help, or would that make it worse? Any other treatment that might be an improvement over bare plastic?

So you cover it with sticky foil, the glue will likely be flammable as it's a solvent, the foil is so thin it'll melt not forgetting the plastic is still there anyway so would melt and burn after a short time anyway regardless of anything covering it.

[elanfan]

Foil is usually aluminium and guess what - aluminium burns! 800 odd degrees C if I remember correctly. Domestic living rooms can reach over 1000C

[dudleybloke]

These look pretty good.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01M4HJ0WQ/ref=mp...

[pingu393]

elanfan said:

As a former fire surveyor for a major insurer can I throw a few things into the mix:

If you were to have fridge fire it's highly unlikely any extinguisher would put it out, the combustible insulation is protected from the extinguishent by the metal cover (in a similar way to Grenfell cladding though the actual metal cladding there also burns in that case).

Any fire not just as above - there are too many have a go heroes who end up getting hurt or dying in their attempt to put out a fire. I'd only recommend having a go at the equivalent of a waste bin fire. Statistically a domestic fire will have grown too big by the time you've filled a bowl with water. If you can hit it immediately with an extinguisher you've a chance but around 50% of an extinguisher is wasted though misuse or panic - the reality is you have about 15 seconds to knock down the fire. Then just get out!

Job's comforter mode off

I can vouch for this. About 20 years ago, we had a cooker fire in the kitchen. Wifey shouted to me and I saw the flames coming out the back of the cooker about 6 inches high. I told her to get the lad out of his cot and get out of the house. In the next 60 seconds, I threw the dishes out of the sink and started to fill the bowl with water and fired two fire extinguishers at it (neither did anything other than seem to make it worse). Smoke was now at chest height and coming down. I threw the water from the bowl on the fire - that killed it. If it hadn't, the kitchen (and probably the house) would have gone.

If the alarms are going off, you probably have enough time to get out. You probably won't have enough time to fight the fire. We were lucky (lucky to save the property) that my wife was there when it happened, as I remember that I was in the kitchen when the alarms started, so I was 10-15 seconds ahead of the alarm - that's what saved the house.

[AndrewCrown]

So my fridge is plumbed into the mains water...would that act as a built in fire extinguisher anyway?
If a dishwasher went up wouldn't the water connected to it put it out?

[elanfan]

AndrewCrown said:

So my fridge is plumbed into the mains water...would that act as a built in fire extinguisher anyway?
If a dishwasher went up wouldn't the water connected to it put it out?

No.

[hman]

Look up firetrace....

[hyphen]

pingu393 said:

I can vouch for this. About 20 years ago, we had a cooker fire in the kitchen. Wifey shouted to me and I saw the flames coming out the back of the cooker about 6 inches high. I told her to get the lad out of his cot and get out of the house. In the next 60 seconds, I threw the dishes out of the sink and started to fill the bowl with water and fired two fire extinguishers at it (neither did anything other than seem to make it worse). Smoke was now at chest height and coming down. I threw the water from the bowl on the fire - that killed it. If it hadn't, the kitchen (and probably the house) would have gone.

If the alarms are going off, you probably have enough time to get out. You probably won't have enough time to fight the fire. We were lucky (lucky to save the property) that my wife was there when it happened, as I remember that I was in the kitchen when the alarms started, so I was 10-15 seconds ahead of the alarm - that's what saved the house.

What was the cause? Something on the hob, or cooker fault?

[Pheo]

You can buy automatically deploying fire extinguishers but they're designed for enclosed spaces - I'm not sure they'd have the desired effect on a fridge because of the back plate.

[pingu393]

hyphen said:

pingu393 said:

I can vouch for this. About 20 years ago, we had a cooker fire in the kitchen. Wifey shouted to me and I saw the flames coming out the back of the cooker about 6 inches high. I told her to get the lad out of his cot and get out of the house. In the next 60 seconds, I threw the dishes out of the sink and started to fill the bowl with water and fired two fire extinguishers at it (neither did anything other than seem to make it worse). Smoke was now at chest height and coming down. I threw the water from the bowl on the fire - that killed it. If it hadn't, the kitchen (and probably the house) would have gone.

If the alarms are going off, you probably have enough time to get out. You probably won't have enough time to fight the fire. We were lucky (lucky to save the property) that my wife was there when it happened, as I remember that I was in the kitchen when the alarms started, so I was 10-15 seconds ahead of the alarm - that's what saved the house.

What was the cause? Something on the hob, or cooker fault?

It was me being a dick and not sealing the vents when I built the kitchen whilst leaving the cooker connected. Sawdust had gone down the back and caught fire when the oven was used.

I blamed wifey, as she said I couldn't disconnect the taps or the cooker - she seemed to blame me. I think I was more Vettel to her Hamilton .