The best
fire blankets
& extinguishers

By the time I’m asked to look at a landlord’s fire precautions, the kitchen fire has almost always happened somewhere else first — a scorched hob, a blackened extractor, a tenant’s account of what they smothered a chip pan with because there was nothing better to hand. Cooking is still the most common cause of accidental fires in UK homes, and the ones that get out of control fast are the ones where nobody had a blanket or an extinguisher near the kitchen door.

There’s no single national law that says every rented home must have either. What drives the paperwork is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which puts a duty on the “responsible person” — usually the landlord or managing agent — to risk-assess any shared or converted building and provide “appropriate” firefighting equipment where that assessment calls for it. Most councils still inspect licensed HMOs against the old LACORS housing fire safety guidance, which expects a fire blanket in every kitchen, shared or not, and often a rated extinguisher in the common parts. For a single self-contained let, neither is a strict statutory requirement — but it’s the kind of gap the Housing Health and Safety Rating System flags under “fire,” and the kind of thing an insurer or a letting agent’s checklist asks about regardless.

This guide covers both halves of the kit: the blanket every kitchen should have whatever else is fitted, and the four common types of portable extinguisher — powder, carbon dioxide, foam and water mist — each with a genuine BS EN 1869 or Kitemark-to-BS-EN-3 certification, not just a CE sticker an importer added themselves. Seven worth buying, from an £11 budget blanket to a marine-grade water mist unit, and a bundle if you’re equipping more than one property at once.

The one I’d buy

Firechief Premium Kitemarked Fire Blanket, 1.2m (BPR2/K100-P)

The cheapest genuinely useful thing on this list, and the one item I’d want in every kitchen regardless of what else is fitted. At 1.2m x 1.2m it’s large enough to smother a full-size chip pan or wrap around someone whose clothing has caught fire, Kitemark certified to BS EN 1869, and needs no training — pull the tabs, cover the fire completely, switch off the heat and leave it in place until cool. The rigid case keeps it mounted and visible on the wall rather than buried in a drawer, which matters more in practice than it sounds.

Typically £18–£22

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How I judge a fire blanket and extinguisher

The certification on the label, not the word on the box. “Fire safety” and “heavy duty” printed on cheap packaging mean nothing on their own. A fire blanket needs Kitemark certification to BS EN 1869; a portable extinguisher needs Kitemark certification to BS EN 3. Both are independently tested by BSI — a CE mark alone, which any importer can self-apply, isn’t the same thing.

The fire class actually matches the risk. A blanket, or a Class F-rated extinguisher, for cooking oil fires; a standard ABC powder or foam extinguisher for general combustibles; CO2 or water mist where live electrics are involved, because powder residue inside a consumer unit or a laptop is its own expensive problem afterwards.

Something a panicking person can operate with no training. A blanket needs none. An extinguisher needs the PASS sequence — pull the pin, aim at the base, squeeze the handle, sweep side to side — printed clearly enough that a tenant reads it for the first time while the fire is already burning.

Disposable domestic kit, sized for the room it’s protecting. Nearly everything here is a five-year-guarantee, buy-it-once unit, not the annually-serviced commercial extinguisher a fire risk assessor specifies for a shared stairwell under BS 5306-3 — fine for a single let, worth checking if you’re fitting out communal areas in a larger HMO. A 2kg extinguisher is plenty for a flat kitchen; the 6kg commercial units sold alongside them are heavier than most people can operate one-handed under stress.

The comparison

The picks in detail

01

Firechief Premium Kitemarked Fire Blanket, 1.2m

Best overall — the one every kitchen needs first; my top pick above

The BPR2/K100-P is the larger of Firechief’s two Kitemarked blankets, and the one I’d specify by default. Fully coated glass cloth in a rigid wall-mounted case, 1.2m x 1.2m — big enough to comfortably cover a full-size pan rather than just the flames around its edge — and Kitemark certified to BS EN 1869, the only standard worth trusting on a blanket. No battery, no moving parts, nothing to service until the day it’s used, at which point it’s single-use and gets replaced.

For

• Kitemark certified to BS EN 1869
• 1.2m handles a full-size pan, not just a small one
• Rigid case stays visible on the wall, not lost in a drawer

Against

• Single-use — needs replacing once it’s smothered a fire
• Does nothing for a fire behind a wall or inside an appliance

Typically £18–£22

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02

Firechief FMP1 1kg Powder Fire Extinguisher

Best compact pick — a studio kitchen or a small HMO bedsit

Kitemark certified to BS EN 3 with LPCB and MED approval on top — the marine equipment directive sign-off is a useful shorthand for build quality, even on a unit going on a kitchen wall rather than a boat. Rated 8A 34B C, covering general combustibles, flammable liquids and, with care, gas appliances. Small enough for a bedsit where a full-size 2kg unit would dominate the wall, and supplied with its own bracket.

For

• Kitemark to BS EN 3 plus LPCB and MED approval
• Compact enough for a small bedsit kitchen

Against

• 1kg empties in seconds — one attempt only
• Powder residue is corrosive to electronics

Typically £24–£30

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03

Firechief FXC2 2kg CO2 Extinguisher

Best for electrical equipment and common parts

The one to fit beside a consumer unit, a communal boiler cupboard or a shared hallway rather than the kitchen. CO2 discharges as a gas and leaves no residue at all, so it doesn’t turn a minor incident into an expensive clean-up bill on live equipment. The aluminium cylinder is Kitemark certified to BS EN 3 at a 34B rating, and comes with a frost-free horn — a genuinely useful detail on a unit that might sit in an unheated stairwell rather than a warm flat.

For

• No residue — safe on consumer units, boilers and electronics
• Frost-free horn suits an unheated common area
• Kitemark certified to BS EN 3

Against

• No Class A rating — won’t cool ordinary combustibles, so a wood or paper fire can reignite
• Discharging CO2 in a very small, poorly ventilated room carries its own risk

Typically £38–£46

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04

Firechief FXF3 3 Litre Foam Extinguisher

Best for a working kitchen — less mess than powder

Part of Firechief’s XTR range and MED approved, the FXF3 carries a strong 13A 89B rating across general combustibles and flammable liquids. The film-forming foam seals over the surface of what’s burning rather than just smothering it, cutting the chance of reignition compared with powder or CO2. It’s also far less unpleasant to clean up afterwards — no fine powder working into every worktop join and appliance vent in the room.

For

• Broad 13A 89B fire rating
• Foam seals against reignition rather than just smothering
• Far less mess to clean up than a powder discharge

Against

• Bulkier and heavier on the wall than the powder or CO2 units here
• Not rated for direct use on live electrical equipment

Typically £34–£42

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05

FireShield 3 Litre Water Mist Extinguisher

Best premium pick — the only one rated safe to use near a person

The specialist choice, and priced like one: LPCB and BSI Kitemark certified, plus PED and MED (UKCA-MED) sign-off — certification aimed at commercial and marine use, which is why it costs several times more than everything else here. What that buys is the broadest single-unit fire-class coverage in this guide — Class A, Class F cooking oil fires, and safe use on live electrical equipment up to 1000V from a metre away — plus the one genuine safety edge over powder or CO2: a fine water mist is the type actually considered safe to discharge near a person whose clothing has caught fire.

For

• Widest fire-class coverage of anything in this guide — A, electrical and F
• Safe to use near a person, not just equipment
• Marine and pressure-equipment certified (LPCB, Kitemark, PED, MED)

Against

• By far the most expensive item here
• Commercial/marine-grade certification is more than most single lets need

Typically £120–£140

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06

Firechief SVB1/K40 Budget Fire Blanket

Best rock-bottom budget — still properly certified

At around £11 this is the cheapest item in the guide, and unlike most things at that price it’s still Kitemark certified to BS EN 1869 — the K40 woven fibreglass cloth meets the current 2019 revision of the standard, not an older, weaker one. Smaller than the Premium pick above at 1m x 1m, and in a soft case rather than a rigid one, so it tucks into a shallow cupboard instead of needing wall space. Fine as the blanket for a second or third let where certification matters more than size.

For

• Genuinely Kitemark certified despite the low price
• Soft case fits a shallow cupboard, not just a wall
• Cheap enough to fit out several properties identically

Against

• Smaller 1m x 1m size is tighter over a full-size pan than the Premium blanket
• Soft case is less visible on a wall than a rigid one

Typically £9–£13

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07

FireShield Home/Landlords Fire Safety Pack

Best value bundle — one order for a whole let

Aimed at a landlord furnishing a property from scratch rather than someone comparing certifications line by line: a 2kg powder extinguisher, a soft-case fire blanket and a one-person first aid kit in a single order. Cheaper than buying the three separately, and it happens to tick the first aid box a fire risk assessment or tenant handover checklist often asks about too.

For

• Covers blanket, extinguisher and first aid in one order
• Cheaper than buying the same three items separately

Against

• Check the listing’s component certifications before repeat ordering — bundle contents can change
• Less specialised than matching an extinguisher to a known risk

Typically £40–£50

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What actually matters — and what doesn’t

Never water, never straight from the tap, on a fat fire. Water flashes to steam almost instantly on burning fat and can throw the fireball across the kitchen — the single most repeated warning in UK fire services’ cooking-fire guidance. A blanket, or a Class F-rated extinguisher, smothers it; nothing from the sink should go near a chip pan.

The class rating matters more than the kg or litre figure on the tin. A 2kg extinguisher rated 13A puts out a bigger test fire than a 3kg unit rated 8A. The letters and numbers are the tested performance; the weight is just how much agent is inside the canister.

CO2 doesn’t cool anything. It displaces oxygen and smothers the flame, but the material underneath stays hot enough to reignite once the gas disperses — the right call for an electrical fire you can then isolate at the fuse board, not a substitute for powder or foam on ordinary combustibles.

What the listings push that doesn’t matter. “Heavy duty” and a bigger kg number on an otherwise identical extinguisher are marketing copy, not a rating, and a CE-only sticker on a cheaper bundle isn’t the same as the BSI Kitemark. If a licence condition asks for BS EN 3 or BS EN 1869, check the listing states it in those words.

Questions I get asked

Do landlords have to provide a fire blanket or extinguisher by law? Not as a blanket rule for every rented home. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires a fire risk assessment for the common parts of any shared or converted building and “appropriate” equipment where that assessment calls for it. Many councils inspect licensed HMOs against the old LACORS fire safety guidance, which typically expects a blanket in every kitchen and often an extinguisher in shared areas. A single self-contained let has no such statutory requirement, though it’s standard practice and something insurers and agents commonly ask about.

Powder, CO2, foam or water mist — which one for a rental property? Match it to the room. Powder is the most versatile for general combustibles and gas but corrosive to electronics and unpleasant to breathe in a small space; CO2 suits a consumer unit, boiler or any live electrical equipment because it leaves no residue; foam sits between the two, cleaner than powder on general fires; water mist covers the broadest range of fire classes safely, including near a person, but costs several times more than the others.

Can I use water on a chip pan or cooking oil fire? No — never. Water sinks below burning fat, flashes to steam almost instantly and can throw the burning oil across the room. A fire blanket laid gently over the pan, or a Class F-rated extinguisher, is the only safe response; turn off the heat and leave it covered until completely cool.

Where should a fire blanket or extinguisher be mounted in a kitchen? By the door, not the cooker — the escape route, not the hazard. A blanket mounted beside the hob is exactly the spot you can’t reach once that’s what’s on fire.

For the wider compliance picture, a fire risk assessment is usually where a fire blanket or extinguisher shortfall gets flagged, alongside interlinked smoke and heat alarms and a key safe for out-of-hours access. A Buy to Let Survey looks at this kind of compliance gap alongside the building’s condition — get in touch. For the rest of a landlord’s toolkit, there are more field-kit guides.

Small print. This guide is general information, not advice on your specific property or licence conditions, and does not replace a proper fire risk assessment or your local authority’s HMO licensing requirements. Prices are indicative, move constantly and were checked at the time of writing; the linked page always shows the current price. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.