unit 3 essay

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FIR 2303

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Apr 3, 2024

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Unit III Essay Components Of Fire The most common oxidizer in this scenario is the air that is existing in the compartment where the fire started. Gorbett (2007) suggests the building had enough void spaces that allowed enough fresh air to be continuously introduced to the fire to not only sustain the fire but to let it grow to the point that almost all available materials were able to reach their ignition temperature and ignite at the same time resulting in what is considered a flashover. There are four different stages of a fire: initial (incipient), growth, fully developed, and decay. In this scenario, firefighters arrive on scene after the fire flashes in the original fire compartment. As the fire was spreading from the apartment of origin to the different exposures, the fire reenters the growth stage. This is important aspect of a fire incident to realize during a size up of the fire scene as firefighters are arriving on scene, this will be a big factor in deciding tactics for how to combat the fire. As seen in this scenario, command arrived on scene, and misjudged where the fire had spread to and how quickly the fire had spread. By knowing that the structure is cut up into many small rooms with a lot of void spaces the firefighters should have been cognizant, that with that amount of fire, that a backdraft, or flashover could be possible as they are entering the structure and bring a lot of fresh air into different compartments. The spread mechanism of a fire depends on available fuel and enough oxygen to sustain burning. The fire in the scenario is able to spread quickly because of how the building was constructed as well as fire load. The building had a third story added as well as renovations throughout. Being an apartment complex the space is divided into small spaces through rooms and hallways. This gives a fire an ability to heat rooms quickly as the fire moves throughout the structure. In the scenario, this building had many void spaces, and open attic spaces. A fire can pull air through void spaces which creates an opportunity for the fire to spread if extinguishment is not taking place. Another big factor in this scenario was the fire load. In an apartment complex, there can be a lot of different smaller spaces that are filled with furniture. With today's synthetics burning hotter and faster than in traditional fire, fires reach an autoignition temperature quicker with the right conditions which leads to rapid fire spread. The fire in this scenario grew to the point that different fire phenomenon was happening at different points. According to investigators the fire had flashed in apartment 2-B before units arrived which accounted for the extreme heat and amount of smoke that firefighters had to back out of the room even while flowing water. As the fire flashed in apartment 2-B the fire was able to spread to the surrounding exposures. Engine 5 opened a door to apartment 2-C which gave the fire fresh air and the firefighters experienced a backdraft in that compartment as oxygen starved flames almost instantly ignited. Properties Of Fire Flammability is how vigorously something burns. Combustion is an exothermic chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidizer resulting in the generation of substantive heat and often light, Gann (2014). In this scenario, the difference between flammability and combustibility is that materials that, in a normal setting, are not flammable were able to combust. Kitchen cabinets when a match is lit next to them do not readily burn, but since the oil in the pan was creating soot on the bottom of the cabinets slowly raising the temperature to the point that the cabinets became combustible and the fire spread to fully involve them. This heating through radiation and pyrolysis of objects as the fire spread is what gives the ability of a fire to flashover because nearly all objects in a compartment reached their ignition point. Flammability in this sense is not as important as the combustibility of an object. If a fire does not have adequate oxygen being fed to it, then the compartment can continue raising its temperature but lack the ability to fully combust, but when fresh air is introduced the incomplete combustible material can all simultaneously ignite creating a backdraft. Lambert (2013) suggests
firefighters have the ability to look for warning signs for a flashover and backdraft, and must know if they are adequately cooling an atmosphere to stop the fire from reaching either point. Reference List Gann, R. (2014). Principles of Fire Behavior and Combustion (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781284081879 Gorbett, G, E. (2007). The Current Knowledge & Training Regarding Backdraft, Flashover, and Other Rapid Fire Progression Phenomena. National Fire Protection Association.
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