BASIC FIREFIGHTING QUESTIONS AND
1. #1 Cause of fire on ships... and others: CARELESS SMOKING HABITS!!!
-DISPOSAL
-SMOKING IN BED
-DISREGARD FOR RESTRICTED
AREAS
POOR HOUSEKEEPING
-Dirty/oily machinery
-Clothes drier lint accumulation
-Improper , non- secured storage
2. THE ELEMENTS OF FIRE (fire tetrahedron): Heat, oxygen, fuel and chemical
chain reaction
3. Heat: Anything that produces the required temperature for ignition will satisfy this
leg of the triangle
-Sun
-Open Flame
-Chemical Reaction
-Sparks
-Friction
-Static Electricity
4. Oxygen: The Earth's atmosphere consists of 21% oxygen. Because fire needs
oxygen to burn, the amount of oxygen available to it controls the rate at which it
burns.
5. Fuel: -Only vapors burn
-Liquids & solids must first be vaporized
6. Tendency of a substance to vaporize is an indication of
: its ability to burn.
7. vaporize more readily than : Liquids
solids
( Gasoline has a flash point of -45 f )
8. Gases are already in a state: vapor
, 9. Chain Reaction: You can have Oxygen - Heat - Fuel in the same place at the
same time and still not have a fire
Heat must be sufficient to bring fuel to its Ignition Temperature
1. #1 Cause of fire on ships... and others: CARELESS SMOKING HABITS!!!
-DISPOSAL
-SMOKING IN BED
-DISREGARD FOR RESTRICTED
AREAS
POOR HOUSEKEEPING
-Dirty/oily machinery
-Clothes drier lint accumulation
-Improper , non- secured storage
2. THE ELEMENTS OF FIRE (fire tetrahedron): Heat, oxygen, fuel and chemical
chain reaction
3. Heat: Anything that produces the required temperature for ignition will satisfy this
leg of the triangle
-Sun
-Open Flame
-Chemical Reaction
-Sparks
-Friction
-Static Electricity
4. Oxygen: The Earth's atmosphere consists of 21% oxygen. Because fire needs
oxygen to burn, the amount of oxygen available to it controls the rate at which it
burns.
5. Fuel: -Only vapors burn
-Liquids & solids must first be vaporized
6. Tendency of a substance to vaporize is an indication of
: its ability to burn.
7. vaporize more readily than : Liquids
solids
( Gasoline has a flash point of -45 f )
8. Gases are already in a state: vapor
, 9. Chain Reaction: You can have Oxygen - Heat - Fuel in the same place at the
same time and still not have a fire
Heat must be sufficient to bring fuel to its Ignition Temperature
