| When an oil fire is out of control and dynamite is | | | | materials started being used at this point. A |
| detonated, or a person is on fire and they jump | | | | polymer is a natural or synthetic compound of |
| into water, these are technically types of fire | | | | chemically bonded molecules such as starch and |
| blankets. Fire is like a living being because it needs | | | | nylon. Fiberglass is one such substance that is |
| food to eat and air to breathe to live, so when | | | | woven into blankets typically found for home use. |
| they are cut off it expires. Fire blankets work on | | | | During the evolution of the fire blanket some |
| the latter, smothering the flames so that it cannot | | | | substances were used that were hazardous. One |
| continue to burn. Here is a short history of these | | | | such substance was woven asbestos fiber, which |
| devices in their many forms. | | | | despite its superior heat retardant properties, is |
| The earliest blankets were made primarily with | | | | hazardous to health. For a period of time there |
| mud, wet or green foliage, sand and water. In | | | | were many blankets made from this material but |
| ancient times if a fire started in a storeroom or | | | | they have generally been phased out. |
| house that couldn't be extinguished after a few | | | | Modern fire blankets are made with not only with |
| minutes, then it was a total loss. These spot fires | | | | traditional materials but with cutting edge materials |
| are what specific devices were invented to put | | | | as well. There are ones made of just wool or a |
| out so that they were not allowed to grow into | | | | hybrid of wool and another material as well as |
| devastating monsters. | | | | purely synthetic ones for kitchen use. As the fires |
| Fire blankets as we know them did not come into | | | | for the blanket to quench change so will the |
| being until the twentieth century. Polymers with a | | | | blanket adapt to meet the need. |
| much higher resistance to heat than natural | | | | |