Fire Safety Systems!

FIRE – just a mention of this word frightens many.  While fire is used for many useful purposes, it also causes destruction in matter of seconds. But the truth is that fire does not destroy on its own. It is the human carelessness that makes fire burn everything in its clutch.

Thankfully, fire safety technology has given us wonderful tools to stay safe. By paying attention to a few basic things, we can ensure that a fire hazard is prevented. Before we get into the technology details, let’s learn how this concept of fire works. This will help us understand and appreciate the way fire safety devices prevent / stop the spread of fire. 

There are three basic elements called ‘fire triangle’ that trigger a fire – Oxygen, Fuel and Heat. To cause a fire, all the three elements should be present. You can understand better from the examples given below:

Mr. X has a petrol can (Fuel). There is oxygen in the atmosphere. But without a match stick or similar source, fire can’t occur, because ‘heat’ is missing.

Mr. Y has a match stick (heat) oxygen is there but without ‘fuel’ to burn, fire can’t occur.

Assume Mr. Z is in a place with noat mospheric air. He has fuel and tries to light it with a match stick (heat), but there will be no fire because ‘oxygen’ is missing.

In addition, there is a fourth element called ‘Chain Reaction’. The first three elements create fire and due to the heat it produces, the fire spreads around and causes complete destruction.

Now that you have understood the basic elements, it is easy to understand how one can prevent fire from spreading and damaging things – First and foremost, by removing any one of the basic elements and stopping the fire!

For example, when a tree catches fire, it has all the basic elements:

Fuel:  the tree it self

Heat: the flame that caused the fire.

Oxygen: in the atmosphere

Now, if you pour water on the burning tree, it puts off the heat and the fire stops imme-diately. Alternatively, if the fire continues and eats up the whole tree, it would extinguish on its own because there is no ‘fuel’ to burn further. Fire extinguishers work on this principle. They cut one or more elements from the fire triangle and stop the fire.

While modern fire extinguishers are available, traditional fire safety devices like water, sand and blankets are still very popular. Fire Departments use water as their primary weapon against fire, except in cases where fire is due to electrical short circuits or chemical reactions. Blankets are used to put out fire of a small range by covering and cutting the supply of oxygen.  Sand is another popular fire extinguisher. You may find red buckets filled with sand in many public places like railway stations, government offices, petrol stations and factories.

Now in crowded public places like shopping mall, a school or an office, how would you know if there is fire in some corner? The ’SmokeDetector’ helps. As the name suggests, it detects the presence of smoke and sounds an alarm. Some smoke detectors sprinkle water in the smoke area as a preliminary fire extinguishing attempt.

Use of traditional methods or modern fire extinguishers to put out fire depends on factors like the kind / cause of fire, manageability, access to the right device, knowledge to use it etc.Modern fire extinguishers are in cylindrical shape with a flexible hose to spread the chemicals. They are available in many types and sizes.

Class A Fire Extinguishers: Paper, Wood, Plastic etc.

Class B Fire Extinguishers: Flammable liquids (Petrol, Oil)

Class C Fire Extinguishers: Elec-trical fire

Class D Fire Extinguishers: Che-mical firel

Class K  Fire Extinguishers Kitchen fire

Each fire extinguisher has clear markings to denote the kind of fire they can handle. Some of them can be carried on hand to the fire site while some others need separate wheels to move them.

Mode of operation is almost same in all fire extinguishers. You remove a pin, release a lock, press the lever and move the nozzle towards the fire zone andcreate a chemical blanket. Most fire extin-guishers have nitrogen or compressed carbon dioxide or some other chemical that reacts with fire and cuts oxygen flow, thereby stopping the fire. To bring these chemicals to the fire zone, a high pressure gas called ‘expellant’ is used. 

Fire extinguishers are available in all sizes and some can even be handled by children. Act as a responsible citizen by watching possible fire hazards around you and raising the alarm whenever you see a potential danger. Preventing fire is much better than extinguishing it later!