Fact Check: Wheat flour cannot be used to extinguish fire from a gas cylinder
Domestic LPG cylinders if not handled properly, can lead to disastrous and fatal consequences. It’s almost impossible to have an LPG blast on its own without related factors. Firstly, a gas leak from the cylinder or regulator gets mixed with air, forming a combustible mixture. If there is a spark or a source of ignition, then it completes the fire triangle. This spark ignites the combustible LPG-air mixture and this leads to an explosion.
Wheat flour
Domestic LPG cylinders if not handled properly, can lead to disastrous and fatal consequences. It’s almost impossible to have an LPG blast on its own without related factors. Firstly, a gas leak from the cylinder or regulator gets mixed with air, forming a combustible mixture. If there is a spark or a source of ignition, then it completes the fire triangle. This spark ignites the combustible LPG-air mixture and this leads to an explosion.
Recently, a video showing a man putting out a fire on a gas cylinder by throwing flour on it is in circulation on social media platforms, especially on WhatsApp with the claim that a handful of flour can prevent a gas disaster. The claim in Telugu goes as ‘*గుప్పెడు గోధుమ పిండి తో మండుతున్న సిలిండర్ ను ఇట్టే అర్పేయొచ్చు, ఎక్కువ మందికి చేరేలా షేర్ చేయండి.*’ When translated, it claims that a handful of flour can prevent a gas disaster. Share this with a lot of people.
The video was viral in September 2023 with the same claim in Telugu: “గుప్పెడు గోధుమ పిండి తో మంటని ఎలా ఆర్పచ్చో చూడండి.”
Fact Check:
The claim is False. Flour does not stop the fire from a gas cylinder.
When we searched for safe methods to extinguish fire, we found that the flour was highly flammable on fire. Here is the video published by the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry which demonstrates that flour is highly flammable when poured on a fire.
Here is another video that proves pouring flour on fire can be dangerous.
An article published on firefighternow.com, states that flour cannot put out a fire and you should know not to throw flour onto flames under any circumstances. There is too high a risk that the particles will ignite. Flour is a flammable substance that won’t smother flames and at its worst can cause dust explosions. Stick with baking soda or salt or simply get out and call the fire department.
It also states that the problem with flour is that it is a flammable material and will react to high heat. The heat from the flames can cause the flour particles to explode and a series of these small explosions can cause serious problems. Therefore, the claim that the flour can extinguish fire from a gas cylinder is False. Loose flour is a flammable substance and should not be used to put out the fire.