Fire Fighting: The Destructive Firefighter

Fires expose firefighters to not only flames. During a fire the main hazard is obviously the flames, but there are many other dangers that you don't see. Those are the dangerous carcinogens that are burned in the fire and those carcinogens are very dangerous.”The smoke from a structure fire has a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide.” (Goodson 182). Besides oxygen, these gases are known carcinogens which means that they are cancer causing when inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Carbon Monoxide alone will cause headaches, nausea, dizziness and even unconsciousness if exposed for an extended period of time. “After the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC), a big number of firefighters who were at the scene and
The fireman's line of work isn't safe and they need to know when their equipment is needed. According to the book, “The Essentials of Fire Fighting”, “When at any emergency scene, firefighters must wear protective clothing and equipment for that incident.”(Goodson 167). There are many different types of scenarios where protective equipment is needed. First is the response to a structure fire. Structure fires are any fire that is within a house or any type of building. These fires have many different substances are being burned most of which when burnt release harmful carcinogens into the air which are very harmful to the body. The dangers of a structure fire are not only the airborne carcinogens. When there is a fire within a building the heat is contained so the fire's temperature is higher than what a normal fire would be at. Also the fire will cause the structure of the building to become unstable and the building will begin to deteriorate and fall apart which introduces a new hazard which is falling objects or collapsing portions of the building falling on the fire fighter. After a structure fire, the overhaul happens. Overhaul is defined by the NFPA as “ Those operations that happen once the main fire has been extinguished”. During overhaul The building is be torn apart to find anymore existing fire and this cause the airborne carcinogens from the fire to be stirred up again and pose a threat once again and objects may still pose a risk of falling which is why the protective equipment is necessary. These hazards are why protective equipment is necessary to the safety of a firefighter and why they should wear whenever a hazard is present. However, firefighter's must know how to use the equipment