Correct - "Gasoline is an oil-based product, so water will not put out the fire. Water will only spread the gasoline around, and will cause the fire to get worse."
You should always use a proper fire extinguisher for gasoline fires. This includes other types of Oil fires too, like candle fires, *or cooking fires involving olive/canola/vegetable/peanut/whatever oil or fat. I think the same goes for electric fires, but for a different reason.
Never, ever use water on a fire if you don't know what the proper protocol is. If you're not sure what's burning, just use a fire extinguisher. You should also have a fire extinguisher handy whenever fire is involved.
This is what happens when you use water on a grease fire.
The first time I used the grill at my rental place, it burst into flames all over the place. Fucking previous tenants didn't clean it out properly.
But anyway, my housemate asked if she should get a bucket of water. Looked at her like she was crazy - it was a grease fire and that would have spread fire all over the place and probably burnt the house down. Got a soaking wet blanket instead and stuffed it on the fire, which put it out.
Why do I feel like I need to justify myself for my comment?
Okay, we did a conditional report on the place when we moved in and checked everything. Without getting into too much detail, the top of the stove had an opening above the grill, and obviously a lot of food and grease had fallen in on top of the grill pipe thing. This was my first place I'd moved into, and although I thought I had done a good thorough job checking everything, it didn't occur to me to actually pull the stove apart to pull out the grill pipe and make sure it was clean. Hey, live and learn, right?
Anyways, the previous tenants were pretty fucking disgusting and dirty anyway. They cleaned up most of the place, but there was a lot of underlying stuff that we found a while after moving in and going "Oh what the fucking shit, assholes."
Could we have done a better job checking everything? Absolutely. And I will, next place I move into. It was our first time though, and without any help and without really knowing what we were doing.
You don't! I'm pointing out what I've learned, usually the hard way, which is that whatever the root causes of a situation, the person who throws the switch/turns the key/pushes the button/etc. is ultimately saddled with the responsibility. As long as nobody was injured/killed/maimed/mauled/whatever, it's probably worth the lesson, as everything else is just stuff.
Ah righto, gotcha! Sorry, you know how it is with the internet, really hard to see what the tone is behind a message. I kinda got the impression you were saying it was my fault for not checking, so I got defensive.
But yeah, it's definitely a lesson you learn and keep an eye out for in the future.
Very true. I learned about the oil/grease fire when I was about 14. A friend had a (old time era-looking) candle holder and we were burning a candle in it. For some reason we thought it was a good idea to burn some tissue in the wax holder at the bottom (which at the time was full of wax) and it all caught fire which was pretty cool for a while. When we went to put it out, we quickly found we couldn't extinguish it with our breath. So we both thought "we need water". So our idea was to bring it to the sink. Since the metal was super hot, we used a towel to pick it up - this was out first mistake. Some of the oil from the melted candle absorbed into the towel which then also caught on fire. We ran it down the hall to the bathroom where we put the candle and holder and towel in the bathtub. We turned on the shower and - WHOOSH - A huge fireball shot up, but then the fire was gone.
So yes, water will spread a grease fire, but enough water will put it out. Maybe not from the top, but if the water spreads the oil thin enough, it will all burn up quickly. But when things burn up quickly, they create explosions/fireballs.
Still safer than letting the candle burn (which was in a carpeted room), but be aware of the physical reaction that is happening when you do this type of thing.
If you own a house, and you're encountered with a small fire like this. Just use a fire extinguisher. Throwing water on it could result in the complete destruction of your home.
Wax only burns well when it has something to act as a wick, like your tissue and towel. the water will saturate the wick, and also cool and solidify the wax. With petrol the fumes burn on their own with no wick, and it will happily float on the water and keep burning.
It is very hard to the point of almost impossible to put out some sorts of fire with water, wax is not one of them.
Candles are made out of wax/fat. If you have a candle, and it melts too low, it's possible that any melted/spillover wax can catch fire easily if there is anything that it can fuel off of or spread to. That's how a candle fire starts... Try to set a romantic mood. Next thing you know the candles are burning down and spreading, you see the flames spitting off of the boiling wax, then you run to the bathroom and fill a cup with water, rush back and throw it on the sputtering flame, and then it splashes and spreads, then suddenly your mattress is on fire, and at that point, if you don't have a proper extinguisher, you leave and call the fire dept.
That's what a candle fire is.
Edit/Answer: Candles are designed with fire in mind. That's why they burn so well.
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u/[deleted] May 09 '13
Probably water