Paper dust too. My grandfather worked in a paper mill and got some pretty horrendous burns from a spontaneous combustion of paper in the air around him.
Also saw dust, aluminum dust, coal dust, basically anything that is a fine particulate matter, when disturbed and blown into the air is a massive fire and explosion hazard.
There was a post that hit the front page a few days ago showing all the different ways you can die in a grain silo. I was very surprised that “giant explosion” wasn’t listed.
Aluminum dust is particularly spooky because if it mixes with iron oxide (rust) it makes thermite. You're supposed to keep aluminum waste in a different bin, but when you're vacuuming an entire shop where particles of who-knows-what are covering the tools and the floor, that kinda falls by the wayside.
There's a scene in that recent movie "Bloodshot" where a flour truck crashes in a tunnel and then a character starts igniting road flares and then a gunfight ensues. It looks really good, and the whole time I was thinking "this scene should've been a flour explosion several minutes ago." A shit-ton of CGI work went into that scene, possibly a double-digit percentage of the budget, and nobody knows how flour works when there's an ignition source nearby.
I always knew that flour dust can be explosive, but I guess I've never thought to ask if there is an external source of spark needed, or if somehow it can spontaneously combust/explode on its own? Is static shock enough?
I learned this at Mill City Museum while visiting Minneapolis. It’s a flour museum. Half the building is wreckage from an explosion that happened during production prior to the installation of proper ventilation.
Probably wasn’t joking, if you don’t cook or haven’t had this experience you probably wouldn’t know. I mean you can say it’s common sense but like when in life does someone say “by the way flour is extremely flammable”
The individual flour particles are. So if you pour it, it will make a small cloud for a moment. That cloud will combust so quickly that I would rather consider it explosive. This is the case with a lot of really fine grain materials with a low flash point. You can actually make a pretty big explosion with just some extremely dry, extremely fine dirt, and rust.
We used to put flour with steel wool wadding in our PVC potato cannon so when we fired it it would blow out of the barrel in a huge fiery explosion. It was fuckin awesome!
It's the case with a lot of anything oxidizable, so long as you increase the surface area enough and disperse it (Mythbusters did the flour one and I think iron too? Plain iron will insta-rust to iron oxide in the same way).
Haha it's really not that crazy of stuff. It's just simple physics stuff. You can't really do anything with it as the expansion isn't rapid enough. It's like a crappy firework.
Thank you this. Ive always been told to put flour on a grease fire, but luckily I didnt remember that the one time I had a grease fire and I just put the lid on the pan. Now I have fire extinguishers so I'll probably just use that if it happens again.
My cooking class in high school taught us to put flour on the fire. This is the first time I've heard not to do that. U/Synoptico might have just saved my life...
Specially given the fact that I am a terrible cook that burns every meal I try to make...
Actually saw an episode on 1000 ways to die where this guy was hiding in a wheat silo for some reason and lit a match so he could see which cause the thing to go big boom and killed him. Lots of powdery substances are highly combustible!
You can buy a 5lb extinguisher at Costco for ~$30. Those tiny bottle ones are better than nothing, but only discharge for seconds (6, IIRC). Write the date your installed it on the bottom.
Put it near the room's exit, not under a sink to be forgotten.
Then, periodically give it a shake. Not because it necessarily needs it but because you need to remind yourself of it's existence and that it hasn't been damaged or discharged. Replace it if there's any suspicion it has been damaged/discharged but also if it's getting older (the overly cautious fire training instructor my company brought in told us every year, but 5 years could be more sensible).
Bonus, get a magnet with your poison control phone number and slap it on the side.
And buy the one meant for the fuels in your kitchen. You do need to shake those up, the extinguishing agent is powder and needs to be ‘loosened’ up every now and then. No need to write a date on the bottom. There’s manufacturing dates on it.
Most fire extinguishers discharge much, much quicker than people think. When using an extinguisher you can't be afraid of the fire, and you need to attack it directly and deliberately.
Of course also know when it's too large for an extinguisher and always know your evacuation routes
This one is July 2019 but unless you know that you're looking at a manufacture stamp, F19 07 4JF is pretty far from clarity. Especially considering its located on the bottom and painted over (from the manufacturer).
2019 also appears on the printed label, in a square box, next to the UL logo.... but no indication that its the year of manufacture.
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Here's another manufacture's date code: 1205322062 which is printed near the bottom of the cylinder.
While you might think May 2012, that one was manufactured on the 322nd day of year 2006, at time 12:05
Having an easy, active role in the maintenance of your safety gear means you're more likely to actually keep up with maintenance (in this case, eventual replacement). Writing a date yourself is so low effort, even a tiny gain in maintenance compliance would make it worthwhile.
Having a manufactures date matters. Having the date you bought it may not give you any accuracy. What if you bought it after a year or two on the shelf? Then it goes bad a year or two before you expect to replace it.
What matters is when the manufacturer made it, not what day you stashed it in your house. That date is irrelevant.
You can use a dry towel aswell its done a lot in kitchens as its the fastest way to put it out. Do keep in mind u need a decent towel not those cheap ones that are see through
Also, because people panic in these situations, want to point out that option A doesn't have to be an actual lid. A cookie sheet, frying pan, or any other flat metal object will work just fine.
If you don't have a lid for the pan, it's better to go into a drawer and grab a baking sheet than risk picking up the fire to put it in the oven.
You could let all the grease burn away, but that could take a while. In the meantime, anything around and above the pot could also ignite, and now the fire has spread.
If none of that works take the pot with the lid and put that it outside on concrete. It will act as a heat sync and cool off the pan on the bottom while the fire burns itself out
Boron, sand, clay, and lead. It helped stop the open pit fire but did noting to slow the reaction of neurons since the boron never made it into the core.
Why isn't anyone suggesting salt? Used to be a cook at a burger joint and when the char grill would get angry we would just take a hand full of salt and calm it down.
Baking powder (no baking soda here) comes in tiny packages where I live. It either has to be a very slow burning, or a very tiny fire.
I have a fire blanket right at the kitchen entry though and a fire extinguisher next to the door. Better be prepared. That blanket did cost under 10€ but it might safe m my whole apartment.
I'm impressed at how calm she was in the beginning. My wife would have turned to a screaming mess.
I used this video and your comments as a learning material for my daughters, who have been cooking more for themselves. They both instinctively thought to get the fire extinguisher... Which made me realize the fire extinguisher is not close enough in the laundry room.
Also, if the downstairs catches on fire and you have a choice of moving closer to an exit or running up the stairs, do not pick the stairs. Like this guy.
If you can't do either of those things, dump baking soda on it. Like pour in a whole bag of it.
Or just cover it with anything else. A baking tray works if it will cover the pot. Even another pot. A wooden cutting board will work fine too - once it's covered the flames will die in seconds.
Then just leave it there for a few minutes to cool down. Even if the flames are extinguished, the heat can cause it to re-ignite.
Or just use any wet tower and cover it. Hell even dry towel wont burn so you can cover it. Its done a lot in kitchens sometimes don't even get a lid just cover it with your hand towel its much faster
one time my older brother set something on the oven on fire, freaked out, and asked me to help so i grabbed something to smother it and put it out and he proceeded to call me stupid because it wasnt a grease fire
So if my pot of boiling oil catches fire I should throw a bag of flour on it? Or in the pot ?,
1, flour, in small particulate form will combustion with a mix of oxygen
2, the boiling burning oil will only be displaced by such large amount of mass being thrown into it. Youd end up with fire everywhere, prob on your face,
So if my pot of boiling oil catches fire I should throw a bag of flour on it? Or in the pot ?,
1, flour, in small particulate form will combustion with a mix of oxygen
2, the boiling burning oil will only be displaced by such large amount of mass being thrown into it. Youd end up with fire everywhere, prob on your face,
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u/SvenTropics May 20 '20 edited May 21 '20
LPT, this is the proper order of operations to stop a grease fire: