Fountain Fire Department gets special blanket to help extinguish car fires quickly

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) -- With more electric cars on the road and with the proximity to Pikes Peak International Raceway, the Fountain Fire Department has purchased a fire blanket to be used for car fires and industrial fires.

The 70-pound fire blanket is made from two layers of woven glass fiber fabric and an inner layer of fire retardant film which works together to remove the oxygen supply from the fire resulting in the fire being extinguished.

It can be used up to fifty times and is cleaned after every use.

The blanket was developed by a company in Norway and started being offered in the United States in November 2019.

The Fountain Fire Department was one of the first fire departments in the United States to purchase and use the blanket.

The department responds to numerous car fires each year that typically close Interstate 25 for up to an hour. The fire blanket will allow car fires to be extinguished quicker resulting in the Interstate being closed for a much shorter timeframe. This will also reduce the hazard to the public and decrease the number of secondary accidents.

The blanket has already been used on one car fire and it was extremely effective, according to Fountain Fire Chief James Maxon.