Smoke is a dispersion of solid particulates in air, and the use of a wet towel as a particulates filter will surely help to retain those suspended solids, better so if the towel is used folded twice or four times.
If you don't have a pan lid nearby, you can use a wet rag or towel to smother the fire. If you choose this method, make sure your rag is damp, not soaking wet, and also make sure the cloth is thick enough so it won't catch on fire too.
Therefore, we would not recommend these. Wet towel or bandana. Like dust masks, these are not designed to protect particulate matter from entering the lungs.
A room with a fully developed fire is extremely hot. All surfaces will be on fire, and you will not want to be trapped there. The water in the blanket will evaporate in seconds. Your best chance is to wrap yourself in the wet blanket and run to the nearest exit - if necessary through the flames.
Keep the doors closed: Seal cracks and vents if smoke comes in. If you're in a room and there's no smoke outside, open the windows slightly at the top and bottom if possible. This will allow heat and smoke to vent out at the top, while letting in fresh air in from the bottom.
Other ways to put out grease fires…
Carefully pour a good amount of baking soda onto the grease fire. Or…Soak a towel under the faucet, wring out the excess dripping water, and drape over the burning grease pan to smother it. (This is very effective, quick and easy!)
Lots of extra kindling is the key. Use large logs or rocks to build a platform that will hold your fire off the wet ground. Lay wood beside your fire to help it dry out as you go. Always bring extra materials with you to get your fire started.
Leave all your things where they are and save yourself. If closed doors or handles are warm or smoke blocks your primary escape route, use your second way out. Never open doors that are warm to the touch. If you must escape through smoke, get low and go under the smoke to your exit.
The freshest air is near the floor. Keep a wet cloth over your nose and mouth; breathe through your nose only. Signal for help. Call 9-1-1 (510-642-3333 if using a cell phone), or hang something out the window.
Which Type of Fire Can Be Safely Put Out with Water? Water can be used to put out Class A fires that involve flammable solids such as wood, paper, or plastic.
No water? No problem. You can try using dirt or sand to put out a fire that has died down. With a shovel, scoop dry sand or dirt into your pit to extinguish the fire.
Do NOT pour water on the fire! Since oil and water do not mix, pouring water can cause the oil to splash and spread the fire even worse. In fact, the vaporizing water can also carry grease particles in it, which can also spread the fire. Remove all oxygen from the flame.
Smother the flames with baking soda. Avoid flour or sugar, which can lead to a dynamite-like explosion. Reach for a dry chemical fire extinguisher (a class K extinguisher will also work, but these are usually found in commercial kitchens).
If it's small and manageable, pour baking soda or salt on it to smother the fire. As a last resort, spray the fire with a Class B dry chemical fire extinguisher.
Boiling water can extinguishes fire more quickly. The hot water sprinkled on the burning material is not only for cooling, but also for reducing the oxygen around it with converted steam. Cold water to absorb a lot of heat. As others mentioned already, heat is one of the component to remove to extinguish a fire.
Absorption of heat in converting hot water to steam is more than heat absorbed in heating cold water to the boiling temperature. Hence, hot water extinguishes fire more quickly than cold water.
Never use water to extinguish flammable liquid fires. Water is extremely ineffective at extinguishing this type of fire, and you may, in fact, spread the fire if you try to use water on it. Never use water to extinguish an electrical fire.
Keep it closed at all times.
It's that simple. A fire door is a safety device. The door itself, the frame, hinges, lock, seals - they all work together to form a protective barrier against fire and smoke. If you wedge a fire door open, you make it useless and you put your life and the lives of others in danger.
Water cools and smothers the fire at the same time. It cools it so much that it can't burn anymore, and it smothers it so that it can't make any more of the oxygen in the air explode.
What are the first three things you do? Always remember the Three A's in case of a fire: Activate, Assist, Attempt. ACTIVATE – the building alarm system (if it has not already been activated) and notify the fire department by calling 911.