Fire sand bucket

A fire sand bucket or fire bucket is a bucket filled with sand which is used to put out fires. They are often kept next to ovens, barbecues, and other areas where fires can occur. They are also commanly found in hyperbaric chambers. Because oil fires are resistant to water, a fire sand bucket is used. In order to extinguish the fire, the sand in the bucket is dumped on the fire to starve it of the oxygen it needs to stay alight. This method of fighting liquid fires has generally been replaced by modern foaming agents.

The sand from a fire bucket can also be used to absorb spills of flammable liquids and render them less dangerous, by reducing the risk of ignition and explosion. Fire buckets are often provided at petrol filling stations to absorb any small fuel spills. [cite web | title = Petrol Filling Stations Guidance on Managing the Risks of Fire & Explosion
url = http://www.hertsdirect.org/infobase/docs/worddocs/guidancefireexplosion.doc
accessdate = 2007-11-22 ]

afety issues

*It is recommended that a steel bucket is used. If a plastic bucket is used, it may crack, warp or melt.
*The bucket should be well labelled so that, in case of emergency, it is easy to spot and use.
*The sand must also be cleaned of all flammable material. If the sand is collected from a beach, it could contain dried grass or plants which would hinder the effectiveness of the sand. Permission is normally required before taking sand from a public beach.
*Act of throwing sand on a fire could cause it to be blown into eyes causing irritation
*Sometimes used as a suppressant for class D fires. The sand must be completely dry or the intense heat of the burning metal will quickly flash the moisture into steam, splattering the burning metal on surrounding material and the operator.
*Sand cannot reliably be used to extinguish burning magnesium, sodium, lithium, or other strongly reducing metals. These metals have the ability to strip oxygen from the sand, resulting in an even more intense fire. [cite web | author = Department of Energy | title = Primer on Spontaneous Heating and Pyrophoricity | url = http://hss.energy.gov/NuclearSafety/techstds/standard/hdbk1081/hbk1081e.html
accessdate = 2007-11-22 ]

References