Fact-Check: No, Wheat Flour Should Not Be Used to Extinguish Fires

Experts told us that putting finely divided wheat flour on a fire could further accentuate the fire.

Fact-Check: This video has falsely claimed that flour can help extinguish fires. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

A video showing a man putting out a gas cylinder on fire by throwing 'flour' at it is being shared on social media platforms.

What is the claim?: Users have shared the video with the claim that 'handful of flour can defuse gas cylinder burning flames.'

An archive of the post is here. 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here and here.)

What is the truth?: This claim is false.

• Studies conducted on the flammability (explosion) of flour proved that flour is flammable when mixed with an oxidant. The combination of the two is likely to ignite.

• We also spoke to a physics professor at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Dr Arnab Bhattacharya, who advised against using flour as an extinguisher.

How did we find out?: We looked for studies on the flammability of wheat flour and found the following.

• A Chinese study by Qi Zhang and Qi Yan mentioned flour is a flammable material and its explosive capability can be studied through the "dust reactivity, dust-deposit concentration, and initial turbulence significantly influence the development process of explosion."

• Another Malaysian study by Mohd Aizad Ahmad and Muhammad Azam mentioned that fire hazards could take place in wheat flour plants of the "accumulation of combustible dust on the horizontal surfaces as this dust could be ignited and burned."

• We also found a video on flammability of wheat flour where the demonstrator sprinkles flour on candles, which results in a fireball. This happens as the loose wheat particles are covered with enough oxygen which leads to combustion.

• Dr Bhattacharya also told us that "putting anything that is finely divided and flammable on a fire is just looking for trouble".

• Additionally, we found a blog post on FirefighterNow that stated that flour contains flammable substances and should not be used to put out fires.

• The blog post also mentioned that the flammable tendency of flour comes down to its dry form. A handful of loose powder can be more dangerous than a tightly packed bag of grain.

What should you use to put out a fire?:

• The blogpost by FirefighterNow states that kitchen items such as baking soda and salt are suitable options that could help in putting out a fire.

• Dr Bhattacharya added that putting sand on fire was the standard practice.

Conclusion: Clearly, this claim is false, as loose flour is a flammable substance and should not be used to put out fires.

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