TYPES OF FIRE

FIRE FIGHTING

TYPES OF FIRE

Combustibel Material Fire

Examples of such fire are bedding, clothing and furnishing, wood, and canvas rpe and paper fire.

Cooling by large quantities of water, or the use of extinguishing agents containing a large proportion of water, is of primary importance when fighting fires of such combustible material. Cooling the source and surrounding area should continue long enough to prevent any possibility of re-ignition.

Liquid Petroleom Fires  

Foam is an efficient agent for extinguishing most liquid petroleum fires. It should be applied so as two flow evenly and progressivelly over the burning surface, avoiding undue agitation. This can best be achifed by dircting the foam jet against any vertical surface adjacent to the fire, both in order to break the force of the jet and to build up an unbroken smothering blanket. if there is no vertical surface the jet should be advanced in oscillating sweeps with the wind, taking care to avoid plunging it into the liquid. Foam spray streams, while limited in range, are also effective.

Volatile oil fires of limted size can be extinguishied by water fog or water spray if the whole of the burning surface is accesible. The surface of the liquid transfers its heat rapidly to the water droplets which present a very large cooling surface and the flame can be extinguished with advancing and oscillating sweeps of fog or spray across the whole width of the fire.

Any oil fire which has been burning for some time is more difficult to extinguish with water, since the oil will have been heated to a progressively greater depth and cannot readily be cooled to a point where it ceases to give off gas. Furthermore, the use of a water jet my spread the burning oil by splashing or overlow. spreading can 

also occur throught agitation of the oil caused by violent boiling of the water. Water should only be applied to oil fires as a spray or fog, although jets of water can play a valuable role in cooling hot bulkheads and tank walls.

The best way of dealing with such fires in tanks is by means of a smothering agent, such as foam, carbon dioxide, or in some cases dry chemical, coupled if possible with sealing off the tank and cooling adjacent areas or spaces.

The risk of re - ignition of a liquid petroleum fire must be borne constantly in mind. Having extinguished such a fire, a watch should be maintained and fire fighting equipment and personnel kept in a state of immediate readiness.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas Fires.

Fires involving escaping liquefied petroleum gas should, where possible be extinguished by stopping the gas flow. If the flow of gas cannot be stopped it my be safer to allow the fire to continue to burn, at the same time using water spray to cool and control the effect of radiant heat.

Extinguishing the flame may result in a wide spread of un - ignited gas insubsequent wider spread of flame if it is re - ignited.     

In order to reach and close the valve controlling the flow of gas it may be necessary to extinguish flames from small leaks in its vicinity. In this case dry powder extinguishers should be used.

Water jets should never be used directly into a liquefied petroleum gas fire. Foam will not extinguish such fires.

Electrical Equipment Fires

These may be caused by short circuit, over heating or the spreading of a fire from elsewhere. The immediate action should be to isolate the equipment and nonconductive agent, such as carbon dioxide or dry chemical, should then beused to extinguish them.       

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