1. DAMAGE LIMITATION - FIRE MODULE

Question 1

When carrying out a triage, categorise & identify:

Answer 1

1. Items in need of urgent attention to prevent secondary damage.
2. Items beyond BER
3. Items not at immediate risk of further damage

Question 2

How do you carry out triage assessments in simple fire damage situations? 3 steps.

Answer 2

WALK AROUND WHOLE PROPERTY & MAKE TRIAGE ASSESSEMENT:
1. Items at risk, note anything at risk of secondary damage - these will require urgent attention.
2. Items or materials not restorable - not urgent, already ruined.
3. Note items you expect to be restorable & will not suffer more damage.

Question 3

What should be done after your triage assessment?

Answer 3

• Focus on and take action of things likely to suffer secondary damage.

Question 4

Someone not familiar with fire damage may spend the first hours cleaning total loss of debris, is this the best option?

Answer 4

• No
• Spending time on this at start of job could deflect resources from mitigation of secondary damage elsewhere

Question 5

What should be considered - debris?

Answer 5

• Can be rich & covered in hydrochloric acid.
• If high chloride levels on metal, it could make debris removal or the removal of salvageable good a higher priority.
• Because hydrochloride acid is being off-gassed, potentially re-contaminating your work.

Question 6

What should be considered - odours?

Answer 6

• May need to protect initial work from these sources of re-contamination of odour off-gassing from debris & the resetting of airbourn sailing.

Question 7

How do you identify items at risk of secondary damage?
WET RESIDUES
DRY RESIDUES
CORROSIVE RESIDUES

Answer 7

• WET RESIDUES; eg from oxygen starved slow fires - more likely to contain & have persistent odours.
• DRY RESIDUES; eg from fast burning fat fires - generally easier to deal with
• CORROSIVE RESIDUES; usually revealed by high chloride levels and visible corrosion.

Question 8

Secondary damage following fires is usually CAUSED by what? 4 points.

Answer 8

• Acid corrosion
• Staining
• Odour absorption
• Humidity/water damage & mould growth.

Question 9

Items that are at risk of secondary damage are:

Answer 9

• Metallic materials
• Electronic equipment
• Certain plastic materials & unsealed timber
• Fabrics & building materials that may support mould growth

Question 10

Do all fire residues contain acids and are corrosive?

Answer 10

• No
  -Some materials produce huge amounts of acids when they burn, some produce none.
  REMEMBER: NOT ALL FIRE RESIDUES CONTAIN ACID, CHLORIDE LEVEL TESTING CAN HELP DECIDE IF THERE IS A CORROSION RISK.

Question 11

Some fire residues can conduct electricity, examples are:

Answer 11

• Acidic residues
• Carbon deposits (particles of incomplete combustion)
• Not all fire residues conduct electricity

Question 12

Some fire residues contain acids, electronics are particularly vulnerable to damage from acidic fire residues, what damage is likely?

Answer 12

• Corrosion
• Short circuits

Question 13

How to prevent damage to valuable electronics?

Answer 13

• Reduce the RH in the property to below 60% to slow corrosion
• Tenting equipment at risk & introducing dry air will enable RH values to be maintained
• Below 30% RH will be an increased risk of static electricity, causing damage to electronic components - protect w water dispersant, specialist knowledge required.
• Prompt decontamination - specialist knowledge required.

Question 14

What actions can prevent secondary damage? 7 items

Answer 14

1. Control humidity
2. Carry out water damage limitation if required
3. Protect floors & floor coverings & initial cleaning
4. Clean items at risk of corrosion or staining damage
5. Improving general environment to reduce re-contamination
6. Check electrical supply & status of freezers
7. Potted plants

Question 15

If chlorides are detected, what items must be cleaned as a priority and/if cost effective should be removed to a stable environment immediately?

Answer 15

1. Electrical equipment
2. Machinery and tools
3. Metallic items such as door handles (stainless steel)
4. Aluminium windows/brass electrical fittings/gilding on picture frames or metal ornaments
5. Plastic laminated surfaces on kitchen & cupboard unit/ UPVC windows & doors

Question 16

Explain slow burning fires

Answer 16

• Typically an incident when the mains incoming electrical supply is overloaded or has a poor connection.
• Fires start slowly, usually in cupboards therefore oxygen is reduced.
• Smoke = high proportion of aerosols
• Usually doesn’t look too bad, is though

Question 17

Explain fast burning fires

Answer 17

• Such as a kitchen fat fire, can produce huge amounts of dry black residue
• Looks severe, however deposits can simply be removed in most cases
• Deposits are light and float in air, can re-deposit on items already cleaned (organise environmental controls such as air scrubbers)
• Prioritise vacuuming of all surfaces esp horizontal as most sooting will settle there and be a source of odour

Question 18

What are the advantages of test cleaning?

Answer 18

• Hard to predict if cleaning will be successful
• Failure can be avoided by test processing

Question 19

What is the importance of heat gradient?

Answer 19

• Hot gases rise, applies to smoke as well.
• Fire residues heavier in upper parts of the room