Safety Rules for Fires Involving Pictures

Fire safety rules are very complex, since they have to cover a variety of different situations and fire types. Fires involving pictures, photographs, paintings and drawings, should be evaluated before the fire is set. If the fire is accidental, though, it's important that you know what to do--just in case.

Photographs

• Fires involving photographs can be dangerous because of the chemicals present in the photos. When a photograph is developed it goes through a chemical bath that brings out the image, and the paper that the pictures are on is also treated. These chemicals are quite flammable and very dangerous if handled without care. These chemicals will bubble when they burn on the photograph, and that's the sign they're present. It's best to keep a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher present because it's meant to be used with these type B fires involving flammable chemicals.

Oil Paintings

• If a painting is the picture that's being burned (whether on purpose or accidentally) there is also a variety of hazards you need to know about. If the frame is wooden, then that will burn. If the painting is an oil paint then the chemicals in it are very flammable. This is also a type B fire because it involves flammable liquids or chemicals. As such, you should put out these fires using a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher. It's specifically geared towards putting out these types of fires.

Drawn Pictures

• If a picture is drawn using materials like graphite, ink or other less-flammable materials then the main source of the fuel is coming from the paper that the picture is on. In this case the fire is considered to be a type A fire, which feeds on solid, combustible materials that aren't metals. You could use a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher, a chemical foam extinguisher, or just plain old water on a fire that's burning on these types of materials. Any of these three options should take care of the blaze nicely.