Chemistry of Fire

Fire alarms should be replaced when they are ___ years old.

10 years

What percent of oxygen is required in the air for something to burn?

16%

You should visit each room of your home and find ______ ways out.

2 ways

Fire extinguishers must be inspected or checked every ___ days?

30 days

Heat

A heat source is responsible for the initial ignition of fire, and is also needed to maintain the fire and enable it to spread. Heat allows fire to spread by drying out and preheating nearby fuel and warming surrounding air.

the three A's

Activate, Assist, and Attempt.

Oxygen

Air contains about 21 percent oxygen, and most fires require at least 16 percent oxygen content to burn. Oxygen supports the chemical processes that occur during fire. When fuel burns, it reacts with oxygen from the surrounding air, releasing heat and generating combustion products (gases, smoke, embers, etc.). This process is known as oxidation.

#8 cause of house fire

Barbecues

How does heat allow a fire to spread?

By drying out and preheating nearby fuel and warming surrounding air.

#5 cause of house fire

Candles

What does carbon monoxide due to the body?

Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when carbon monoxide builds up in your bloodstream. When too much carbon monoxide is in the air, your body replaces the oxygen in your red blood cells with carbon monoxide. This can lead to serious tissue damage, or even death. Symptoms may be dull headache, weakness, dizziness, vomiting/nausea, confusion, ect.

There are four classes of fire

Class A, B, C, D, and K.

Class B fires

Class B fires involve flammable and combustible liquids such as gasoline, alcohol, oil-based paints, lacquers.

#1 cause of house fire

Cooking equipment

#6 cause of house fire

Curious children

Half of home heating fires are reported during the months of ______.

December, January, and February

#4 cause of house fire

Electrical equipment

#7 cause of house fire

Faulty wiring

Fire Protection Engineer

Fire protection engineers identify risks and design safeguards that aid in preventing, controlling, and mitigating the effects of fires. Fire engineers assist architects, building owners and developers in evaluating buildings' life safety and property protection goals.

#9 cause of house fire

Flammable liquids

Fuel

Fuel is any kind of combustible material. It's characterized by its moisture content, size, shape, quantity and the arrangement in which it is spread over the landscape. The moisture content determines how easily it will burn.

#2 cause of house fire

Heating

#10 cause of house fire

Lighting

What determines how easily a fuel will burn?

Moisture content.

The four simple steps for operating a fire extinguisher can be remembered with the word PASS

Pull, Activate, Squeeze, Sweep.

#3 cause of house fire

Smoking in bedrooms

What is oxidation?

The reaction in which an element combines with oxygen.

How does a fire occur?

When combustible fuel meets oxygen at a high temperature

Combustion

a chemical reaction between substances, usually including oxygen and usually accompanied by the generation of heat and light in the form of flame.

Multipurpose dry chemical extinguishers

effective on all classes except D and K fires.

Class k fires

fueled by flammable liquids unique to cooking, such as cooking oils and greases that are vegetable and animal fat-based.

The four elements that must be present for fire to exist include

heat, oxygen, fuel, and a chemical reaction between the three.

The fire triangle

is a simple way of understanding the elements of fire. The sides of the triangle represent the interdependent ingredients needed for fire: heat, fuel and oxygen.

Class C fires

is one in which an energized electrical element is the cause of the fire. "Energized" means that the electrical component (whether electrical appliance, wiring, device, etc.) is connected to a power source. Wherever there is charged electrical equipment and/or wiring, there is a risk of Class C fires.

How many people a year die as a result of fire?

more than 3,000

Class A fires

ordinary combustibles. These types are fires use commonly flammable material as their fuel source. Wood, fabric, paper, trash ,and plastics are common sources of Class A fires. This is essentially the common accidental fire encountered across several different industries.

Class D fires

the presence of burning metals. Only certain metals are flammable and examples of combustible metals include sodium, potassium, uranium, lithium, plutonium and calcium, with the most common Class D fires involve magnesium and titanium.

Convection

the transfer of heat through air

Radiation

the transfer of heat through electromagnetic waves

Conduction

the transfer of heat through objects

After the fire has been extinguished you should do what?

watch the site for re-ignition