Fire Information

Since we are going to be using tea light candles in our stall at the market palace, the tutors suggested that we look into the safety methods in preventing fires and inform the students attending the market about the risks that can be associated with using fire in their homes.

Here is a list of fire-retardent materials that I found online - we are planning to hopefully use concrete to make some of our holders out of and potentially wood as we

• Rock wool
• Gypsum boards
• Asbestos cement
• Perlite boards
• Calcium silicate boards
• Treated lumber plywood
• Treated vegetable fiber (e.g. Cotton, Jute, Kenaf, Hemp, Flax, etc..)
• Fire-retardant treated wood
• Brick
• Concrete
• Cement render

Other materials that we are using are glass, paper, clay and tin.

The most worrying and flammable out of these would be the paper. When designing this particular material we would try to make a holder which has a wire structure to it and sits far away from the flame in the centre. After making a few mock ups of these we would have to determine whether this material was safe enough to use at all or whether it is too dangerous to use as a material at all.

Glass and tin will heat up when exposed to flames, as they are a good conductor of heat. This doesn't mean we wouldn't be able to use them for the construction of the holders but we would have to advise our customers that after the candle has been lit and placed inside the holder it is unable to be moved from the surface it has been placed on. If the person does want to move the holder they would be advised to blow the candle out, give the holder sufficient time to cool and then can be moved.

Clay isn't really a concern as it isn't known to be flammable, much like concrete. If it heats up to a very high temperature there is the slight chance of it cracking but this is unlikely.

Along with each of our holders we intend to produce a small information booklet regarding the particular safety precautions for each material, if we look into having some candles hanging also this would need to be taken into account also, and would only be used in conjunction with the less flammable materials. This would advise the viewer on how the particular candle should be lit, where it can be placed within a room and how long it should be left alight for. 

At the stall itself we will have a fire extinguisher present and ensure that not all display candles are lit, and that they are placed in a location where customers wouldn't catch their sleeves or hair on the fire. We will discuss further safety precautions with our facilitator when we meet with them.

- NATALIE CRAWFORD