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My life at SMAT
(School of Missionary Aviation Technology)

Fire Fighting

My first use of a fire extinguisher was the best. I've been learning about classes of fires and what to put them out with for a long time but I have never really gotten the chance to do it.
A firefighter named Gary came and gave a presentation on what types of fires are put out with which kind of material. After the lecture, we went outside and lit karosine and practiced. Seeing the extinguishers work was great!
To extinguish a fire, we used the acronym: PASS.
PASS stands for Pull the pin, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep.

Oxydation is when oxygen combines with another element. Oxygen can even burn under water.
There are only a few objects that won't burn. Steel will even burn.

  1. Chemical heat energy is anything from:
    • combustion
    • spontanious heating
    • decomposition (oil soaked rags)
      Note: Putting pure oxygen onto oily rags can make them explode!
    • or from a solution.
  2. Electrical heat energy can be:
    • dielectric heating
    • resistance heating (extention chord)
    • leakage current
    • arching
    • static electricity
  3. Mechanical heat energy
    • Friction
    • Compression
  4. Neuclear or Solar heat energy
Note:
When you are sanding metal, it can be explosive. Dust has the most surface area to start a fire and it can have the most amount of oxygen around it that can make an explosion. That's why when you start a campfire, you want tindeling because it has the most surface area around it to help start the fire.
Make sure you look around before you start making sparks.

    Only gasses burn:
  • Solid matter + pyrolysis = fuel gass
  • Liquid + vaporization = fuel gas
  • Gassious matter = fuel gas
Reducing the agent (fuel), oxengenizing agent, heat or chemican chain reaction will stop combustion.
    Extinguishing methods include:
  1. Reducing temperature
  2. Removing fuel
  3. Excluding oxegen
  4. or inhibing the chain reaction
    Types of fires:
  1. Class A
    • How to remember it: A looks like a Pine tree (Wood/paper)
    • Materials such as wood/paper/rubber.
    • Put out with WATER
  2. Class B
    • B is for Boiling (liquid)
    • Materials such as petrolium (car gas), oil, liquids
    • Put out by
      1. inhibiting chain reaction
      2. smothering/blanketing
      3. removing fuel
      4. reducing temperature
      NOTE: You can put out with water but it's hard. Blanket with foam. The fire department will put it out with water but only because they have lake michigan (or something else) on the end of a pipe. The danger with water is that it will spread the liquid around!
  3. Class C
    • C is for Charged (electrical)
    • Electrical fires
    • Put out with non-conducting extinguisher or de-energize and treat it as a class A or B fire.
      NOTE: DO NOT put out with water or foam as they will conduct the electricity and shock/kill you.
  4. Class D
    • D is for Duh! The only one left (Metal fires)
    • Must put out with a special blanketing agent. Keep your work station clean from metal shavings to avoid it. Hardest fire to put out: water makes it worse because it burns so hot that it takes the oxygen right out of the water.
    General opperation of a fire extinguisher (PASS):
  • Pull the pin
  • Aim
  • Squeeze
  • Sweep
Soapy water in a pump tanks helps water to sheet on a fire like butter instead of droplets. Don't put a lot of soap into a Pump Tank as it can clauge it.

AFFF is common at airports. It's basically soap suds and it blankets fuel so it can't get oxygen.
Don't step in the blanket as you can cause the fire to start again by disrupting the blanket.

Halatron is the new Halon thanks to the EPA. It's not as good and not as toxic.