Stand every lamp on a stable, fireproof surface, never leave it lit near anything that burns, and keep a metal lid or dry sand or earth within reach. A fire only at the wick is put out by covering the flame or pinching the wick, and a fire in the fuel by smothering it with a lid or plate. Never use water on burning oil, because it sinks, flashes to steam and throws burning fuel.
Part of Oil Lamp Construction
Most lamp fires start when fuel spills or ignites. A fire at the wick and a fire in the fuel reservoir call for different responses, and water is never one of them.
Prevent The Fire Before It Starts
The overview’s rules:
- Always place lamps on stable, fireproof surfaces: a stone slab, metal plate or ceramic tile.
- Never leave a burning lamp unattended near combustible materials.
- Keep a metal lid within reach to smother the flame if needed, and never blow out a fat lamp, which can spatter burning oil.
- Hang lamps from hooks instead of standing them on shelves where they can be knocked over.
- Keep children and animals away; a tipped lamp spreads burning oil.
Add to these: never carry or refill a lit lamp, and let a lamp cool before you move it.
A Wick Fire And A Fuel Fire Need Different Responses
| What is burning | What it looks like | Response |
|---|---|---|
| The wick only | Flame tall or ragged at the wick; fuel not burning | Lower or pinch the wick; cover the flame with a lid; let it cool |
| The fuel in the reservoir | Flame across the surface of the fuel | Slide a lid or plate over it; if none, smother with dry sand or earth; leave it covered until cold |
| Spilled burning fuel | Fire on the table or floor | Smother with a lid, plate or dry sand or earth; clear people away |
Do not move a lamp with burning fuel in it.
Why Water Makes It Worse
Oil is lighter than water and floats on it, so water poured onto burning oil sinks beneath. A cold liquid under hot oil turns to steam in an instant, and water expands to roughly 1,700 times its volume as steam (a standard figure). That expansion throws burning fuel upward and outward.
Oily Rags
Rags and cloth soaked in plant oil can heat themselves as the oil oxidises and may ignite without a flame near them, especially with drying oils such as linseed. Spread them out to dry outdoors on a non-combustible surface rather than bunching them.
Common Mistakes
- Using a wet cloth as the smotherer. A cloth that drips is water in disguise. Use a lid, plate or dry sand or earth.
- Blowing out a fat lamp hard. The overview warns it can spatter burning oil.
- Trying to move a burning lamp outside. It spills.
Safety
Burns and smoke
Cool a burn at once and get help for a large one; see Thermal Injury Care and Severity Assessment. A fire in a closed room fills it with smoke and carbon monoxide within minutes: get out and ventilate before fighting a fire that is spreading.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Wick Trimming — the routine that avoids wick fires
- Combine with: Soot & Ventilation — the other half of lamp safety