Fire Protection Module 17

FIRE FIGHTING OPERATIONS ON SELECTED INSTALLATION/FACILITY/BUILDING/STRUCTURE

Fire Operations - include all actions from the time a call comes to the after-action review that is conducted following an incident. Responding to an incident, fighting a fire, rescue and salvage/overhaul are considered components of fire operations.

Principles of Structural Fire Fighting

1. Pre Fire Planning - involves developing and defining a systematic course of actions that may be performed in order to realize the objectives of fire protection, and involves the process of establishing the SOP in case fire breaks out.

2. Evaluation-Size Up - (on the spot planning or sizing up the situation)

• Learn the facts of the situation by answering the 5w's and 1 H

• Understand the probabilities of the fatal behavior of fire

• Know your own situation such as your capabilities, manpower and equipment

• Determine the specific course of action such as entry or rescue

3. Evacuation - the process of transferring people and property away from the burning area to minimize damage or destruction.

4. Entry - the process of accessing the burning structure, entry maybe forcible. However, there are purpose of forcible entry such as:

• To provide access for the firefighter with equipment for fire extinguishment

• To provide rescue

• To aid in ventilation

5. Rescue - the operation of removing or extricating, thus saving people and other property from the burning building.

6. Exposure - (cover exposure) the activity of securing other buildings near the burning structure in order to prevent the fire from extending to another building.

What are the Types of Exposures?

• Fire Exposure: It refers to the property exposed to the fire.

• Life Exposure: It refers to the danger to the lives of the occupants of any building that is in line with the travel of dangerous fumes or gases thrown off by fire or those directly exposed to fire.

7. Confinement - the activity of restricting the fire at the place (room) where it started, the process of preventing fire from extending from another section or from section to another section.

8. Ventilation - an operation purposely conducted to displace toxic gases.

A. Ventilation

• Circulation of air in any space by natural wind or convection or by fans blowing air into or exhausting air out of the building..

• A firefighting operation of removing smoke and heat from the structure by opening windows and doors or making holes in the roof.

B. What are the Types of Ventilation?

• Vertical Ventilation: To establish vertical ventilation, it must be worked from the top down. Heated gases and smoke rise to the highest point and, if confined, will tend to "mushroom" or rise to the highest point of the building, exerting their heating effect on everything they touch.

• Cross/Horizontal Ventilation: Windows are the easiest and generally most available for the common types of buildings, but the indiscriminate opening of windows and doors can defeat the purpose of ventilation.

• Mechanical or Forced Ventilation: A process or method of ventilation whereby a device such as a smoke ejector is utilized to remove excessive heat and dense smoke in a confined building.

C. What are the Factors to Consider in Locating the Opening for Ventilation?

• Location of intensity of fire

• Highest point of the roof

• Direction of wind

• Existing exposure

• Extent of fire

• Obstruction

D. What are the Procedures Followed for Vertical Ventilation?

• Check the condition of the roof support to make sure that they have been burned away or weakened to a point where they may collapse under your weight. Feeling the roof for hot spots helps you determine if the fire has reached the point to cause weakening.

• Plan a way of escape from the roof in case of an emergency, such as roof collapse.

• Use any available openings that are part of the roof construction, such as skylight or roof trap doors.

• Make a certain passageway for the smoke and heat extends down through the ceiling of the room.

• The opening should be large enough to provide a rapid exit for the smoke and gases.

• Work with the wind at your back.

9. Salvage - the activity of protecting the properties from preventable damage other than the fire by removing the materials outside the burning area or protect or cover the materials by using tarpaulins (cotton canvas with waterproofing)

10. Extinguishment - the process of putting out the main body of fire by using four general methods of fire extinguishment: cooling, smothering, separation, or combination.

EXTINGUISHING AGENTS

An extinguishing agent is a substance that will put out a fire. Every extinguishing agent operates by attacking one or more sides of the fire tetrahedron. The specific actions involved are the following:

• Cooling: to reduce the temperature.

• Smothering: to separate the fuel from oxygen.

• Oxygen dilution: to reduce the amount of available oxygen needed to sustain combustion.

• Chain breaking: to disrupt the chemical process that sustains the fire (the chain reaction side of the tetrahedron).

Fire Extinguisher

Fire extinguisher is a mechanical device, usually made of metals, containing chemicals, fluids, or gases for stopping a fire.

How to Use the Portable Fire Extinguisher?

• PULL the pin.

• AIM the extinguisher, with the nozzle pointing at the base of the flames.

• SQUEEZE the hand trigger, as you hold the extinguisher upright.

• SWEEP the extinguisher from side to side, covering the area/base of the flames.

All fire extinguishers manufactured or sold in the Philippines shall be labeled or marked to show at least the following: (Sec. 37, PD 1185)

1. Date of original filling to be permanently stamped on the body near the valve/control assembly.

2. Chemical contents

3. Type of extinguisher - its use

4. Operating instruction

5. Safe procedure in usage

6. Name and address of the manufacturer

7. Name and address of the dealer

Section 37 of the same code enumerates the prohibited acts about fire extinguishers:

1. Removal of inspection tags attached to fire extinguisher;

2. Refilling a discharged fire extinguisher with an extinguishing agent other than what the unit was designed to contain;

3. Selling fire extinguishers not appropriate to the hazard; and

4. Selling defective or substandard fire extinguishers.

Classification of Fire Extinguishers

The following are the classification of Fire Extinguishers

A. Portable Fire Extinguishers. These types of fire extinguishers can be carried to the fire area for a fast attack. However, they can contain a limited supply of extinguishing agents. The agent is quickly expelled from the extinguisher; in most cases, continuous application can be sustained for only a minute or less.

Types of Portable Fire Extinguishers.

1. Water Fire Extinguishers. These are extinguishers that use water or a water solution as the extinguishing agent and are suitable only for class A fires.

Five (5) types of Water Extinguishers

a. Soda-Acid Extinguisher. It has a range of 30 --40 feet and expands itself in about 55 seconds. The shell of the extinguishers is filled with a solution of 1½ lbs of sodium bicarbonate and 2 ½ gallon of water.

b. Cartridge-Operated Water Extinguisher. It has a range of 30 - 40 feet. The container is filled with water or an antifreeze solution.

c. Pin-Type Cartridge-Operated Extinguisher. A newer version of the cartridge-operated water extinguisher and need not be inverted for use. Instead, a pin is pulled out of the cartridge, with the extinguisher upright. A lever is squeezed to discharge the extinguishing agent (water or antifreeze solution).

d. Stored-Pressure Water Extinguisher. It is the most used portable firefighting tool. It has a horizontal range of 35 - 50 feet and it will expend its water in about 55 seconds. The container is filled with water or antifreeze solution.

e. Pump-Tank Extinguisher. Pump tanks are the simplest type of water extinguishers. The tank is filled with water or an antifreeze solution. A hand-operated piston pump is built into the extinguisher and is used to discharge water onto the fire. It has a range of 30 - 40 feet and holds enough water for about 55 seconds.

2. Carbon Dioxide (CO,) Extinguisher. These are used primarily on class B and class C fires. The range varies between 3 - 8 feet and the duration between 8 - 30 seconds depending on the size.

Uses of Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide is used primarily for class B and Class C fires. It may also be used to knock down on class A fire. It is particularly effective on fire involving:

1. Flammable oils and greases.

2. Electrical and electronic equipment, such as motors, generators, and navigational devices.

3. Hazardous and semi-hazardous solid materials such as plastics except those that contain their own oxygen (like nitrocellulose).

4. Machinery spaces, engine rooms, and paint and tool lockers.

5. Cargo spaces where total flooding with carbon dioxide may be accomplished.

6. Galleys containing high value cargo, such as works of art delicate machinery and other material that would be ruined by water or water-based extinguished agents.

7. Spaces where after-fire clean up would be a problem.

3. Dry Chemical Extinguisher. It is available in several sizes, with any of five different extinguishing agents. All have at least a BC rating; the mono-ammonium phosphate extinguisher carries an ABC rating.

Dry Chemical Extinguishing Agent

Dry chemical extinguishing agents are chemicals in powder form. Again, this should not be confused with dry powders, which are intended only for combustible metal fires

Types of Dry Chemical Extinguishing Agent

At the present time, five different types of dry chemical extinguishing agents are in use. Like other extinguishing agents, dry chemicals may be installed in a fixed system or in portable and semi portable extinguishers.

1. Sodium Bicarbonate. It is the original dry chemical extinguishing agent. It is generally referred to as a regular dry chemical and is widely used because it is the most economical dry chemical agent.

2. Potassium Bicarbonate. This dry chemical was originally developed for AFFF in a twinned system.

3. Potassium Chloride. Chloride was developed as dry chemical that would be compatible with protein type foams. Its extinguishing properties are about equal to those of potassium bicarbonate.

4. Urea Potassium Bicarbonate. This is a British development of which the NFPA says. Urea potassium bicarbonate exhibits the greatest effectiveness of all the dry chemicals tested"

5. Monoammonium Phosphate (ABC Multipurpose). It is otherwise known as multipurpose dry chemical because it can be effective on class A, B and C fires.

Uses of Dry Chemical

Mono ammonium phosphate (ABC, multipurpose) dry chemical may, as its name implies, be used on class A, Class B and Class C fires and combinations of these. However, as noted above, ABC dry chemical may only control, but not extinguish, some deep seated class A fires. Then an auxiliary extinguishing method such as water hose line is required.

All dry chemical agents may be used to extinguish fires involving -

1. Flammable oils and greases;

2. Electrical equipment;

3. Hoods, ducts and cooking ranges in galleys and diet kitchens;

4. The surfaces of baled textiles;

5. Certain combustible solid such as pitch, naphthalene and plastics (except those that contain their own oxygen); and

6. Machinery spaces, engine rooms and paint and tool lockers.

4. Dry Powder Extinguisher. It is the only extinguisher that may be used on combustible metal (class D fires). It has a range of 6 - 8 feet. The extinguishing agent is sodium chloride, which forms a crust on the burning metal.

5. Halon Extinguishers

Halon 1211 (Bromochlorodifluoromethane) extinguishers are available in several sizes. They are from 2-12 lb. Carrying 5 BC and 10BC rating with the horizontal range of 9-15 ft. and last for 9-15 seconds. Halon 1211 is more effective than COz; it leaves no residue and is virtually non-corrosive. However, it can be toxic, and its vapors should not be inhaled.

Halon 1301 (Bromotrifluoromethane) is available in 2-% lb. portable extinguisher. It has a rating of 5 BC with the horizontal range of 4-6 ft. and lasts for 8-10 seconds.

Items to Check or Inspect in a fire Extinguisher

• Check accessibility and proper location

• Check tag for date of last recharge or inspection

• Check nozzle for obstruction and operations

• Examine for corrosion (leaks) or mechanical damage

• Check lock pin and seal

• Determine if full (water level, pressure gauge, weight)

• Examine condition of hose and hose coupling

• Check horn for cracks, dirt, or grease accumulations and;

• Date of inspection and initials of the inspector.

Prohibited Acts Involving the Operation of Fire Extinguishers (Rule 37, Section 108 of P.D. 1185)

• Removal of inspection tags attached to the fire extinguishers

• Refilling a discharged extinguisher with an extinguishing agent other than what the unit was designed to contain.

• Selling fire extinguishers not appropriate to the hazards

• Selling extinguishers prohibited by Rule 37, Section 104 of P.D. 1185

• Selling defective or substandard extinguishers

• Using/installing two or more thermal special hazard vaporizing liquid units in rooms with volume greater than the nominal capability of one unit and;

• Installing pressure gauges in fire extinguishers which, do not indicate the actual pressure of the interior of vessel such as, but not limited to, use of uncalibrated gauges, not providing or blocking the connection between the gauge and the interior, or fixing the indicator/needle to indicate a certain pressure.

11. Overhaul - the complete and detailed check of the structure and all materials therein to eliminate conditions that may cause reflash; involves complete extinguishment of sparks or smoldering to prevent or eliminate possibilities of reignition or rekindling.