Fire And Fire Extinguishment
FIRE AND FIRE EXTINGUISHMENT
A BRIEF GUIDE TO FIRE CHEMISTRY AND EXTINGUISHMENT THEORY FOR FIRE EQUIPMENT SERVICE TECHNICIANS
BY J. CRAIG VOELKERT
COPYRIGHT ® J. CRAIG VOELKERT 2009
FIRE AND FIRE EXTINGUISHMENT
A BRIEF GUIDE TO FIRE CHEMISTRY AND EXTINGUISHMENT THEORY FOR FIRE EQUIPMENT SERVICE TECHNICIANS
INTRODUCTION
The professional service technician, who selects, installs, maintains, recharges and otherwise performs service work on portable fire extinguishers, pre-engineered and engineered fire suppression systems should have a basic knowledge of fire chemistry, theory of extinguishment, classification of fires and properties of different fuels. This base knowledge will allow the professional technician to better understand the fire hazards that they may encounter, how various fire extinguishing agents, in theory, suppress fire and therefore have a better understanding of the equipment that they are entrusted to install and maintain.
This document is not intended to make the reader an expert on the subjects discussed, rather, it is intended to give a base knowledge and provide references for more in-depth study.
FIRE RESPONSE
Response to any fire scenario, regardless of the form of the response, should have these three basic priorities listed by importance:
1. Life Safety and Personal Protection. The most important thing to accomplish in any fire incident is to protect life and avoid injury. Property, product, processes and material can be replaced and rebuilt. Human life and health is most precious and can not be replaced. If nothing else is accomplished in a fire incident other than the complete safety of all persons involved, then the first and most important goal in a response to fire has been accomplished.
2. Incident Stabilization. Once the first priority has been accomplished, the second goal is to stabilize the incident – keep it from growing or getting worse. By stabilizing the incident and not allowing it to change, grow in
A BRIEF GUIDE TO FIRE CHEMISTRY AND EXTINGUISHMENT THEORY FOR FIRE EQUIPMENT SERVICE TECHNICIANS
BY J. CRAIG VOELKERT
COPYRIGHT ® J. CRAIG VOELKERT 2009
FIRE AND FIRE EXTINGUISHMENT
A BRIEF GUIDE TO FIRE CHEMISTRY AND EXTINGUISHMENT THEORY FOR FIRE EQUIPMENT SERVICE TECHNICIANS
INTRODUCTION
The professional service technician, who selects, installs, maintains, recharges and otherwise performs service work on portable fire extinguishers, pre-engineered and engineered fire suppression systems should have a basic knowledge of fire chemistry, theory of extinguishment, classification of fires and properties of different fuels. This base knowledge will allow the professional technician to better understand the fire hazards that they may encounter, how various fire extinguishing agents, in theory, suppress fire and therefore have a better understanding of the equipment that they are entrusted to install and maintain.
This document is not intended to make the reader an expert on the subjects discussed, rather, it is intended to give a base knowledge and provide references for more in-depth study.
FIRE RESPONSE
Response to any fire scenario, regardless of the form of the response, should have these three basic priorities listed by importance:
1. Life Safety and Personal Protection. The most important thing to accomplish in any fire incident is to protect life and avoid injury. Property, product, processes and material can be replaced and rebuilt. Human life and health is most precious and can not be replaced. If nothing else is accomplished in a fire incident other than the complete safety of all persons involved, then the first and most important goal in a response to fire has been accomplished.
2. Incident Stabilization. Once the first priority has been accomplished, the second goal is to stabilize the incident – keep it from growing or getting worse. By stabilizing the incident and not allowing it to change, grow in