Brannigan's Complete Book Flashcards
Why do you need to study building construction?
Because your life depends on it.
It is essential for firefighters to have a working knowledge of how buildings are -
Designed and constructed.
Renovated and maintained.
Altered and fall into disrepair.
In the United States between 2013 and 2018, on average, how many firefighters are killed annually in
the line of duty?
70.
What was the largest building collapse in recorded history?
The collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001.
How many firefighters were killed during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September
11, 2001, in New York City?
343
With building construction, you must understand -
The language of construction,
How building materials behave under attack of the fire,
How different types of buildings fail in a fire and how the type of occupancy impacts fire load and lift safety.
) In 2017 more than ____ firefighters were injured on the fire ground sustaining injuries from sprains,
burns, and smoke inhalation.
Nearly 25,000
What is the universal distress signal?
Mayday
The mayday message is used by firefighters for all but which of the following situations?
When they require water for their hoselines
What is the term, based on national standards, that is used to clear the radio of all communication to
issue an evacuation order?
Emergency traffic.
When an evacuation order is issued by the IC, firefighters should -
Should leave all tools and equipment behind in order to leave the building as quickly as possible.
The radio order for evacuation is sometimes supplemented with which of the following?
Short airhorn blasts,
Siren signals
Who said, “Panic will save your life, provided you are the first to panic and are headed in the right
direction” ?
Francis Brannigan.
Why is it more appropriate for a firefighter to refer to a building as “a building of ordinary
construction,” rather than simply “a brick building”?
The proper terminology is a sign of professionalism,
The proper terminology conveys the characteristics of the building to other firefighters,
The proper terminology conveys any hazards the building may hold to other firefighters.
A document developed by gathering general and detailed data use by responding personnel to
determine the resources and actions necessary to mitigate anticipated emergencies at a specific facility is
called –
Prefire planning.
You must understand how construction ___ behave under attack by fire?
Materials.
When exiting a building after being given an evacuation order, the firefighter’s attention should be
focused in what direction?
In the direction, they are traveling
A fire dispatched as a building fire could indicate which of the following?
A fire involving the structure of a building,
A contents fire within the building
A structure fire should only indicate what type of fire?
A fire attacking the gravity resistance system of the building.
Prefire planning is a critical component of fire fighting because?
It prepares firefighters for the many potential hazards they may face with regard to a specific building.
What is a GIS?
Geographic Information System
The word plan, though commonly used to describe the prefire effort, might be a misnomer. A more
accurate term may be -
Prefire analysis
Branniganism is defined as - “___ the building when analyzing how and where the fire will spread in a
building”?
Undress.
An inspection is essentially what type of function?
A policing function.
Instead of showing up unannounced at a business to develop a prefire plan, a better strategy may be
to -
Send a letter asking the business owner to contact the fire chief to set an appointment.
According to Brannigan, how do fire departments operate differently than other services or industries
operating around the clock?
Fire departments deliver a senior officer with broad authority to make important decisions immediately
to the scene of an emergency at any time of day.
How many officers should a business owner be in contact with during the development of an
emergency plan for his or her business?
1
Preplanning can detect whether a potential disaster exists that cannot be adequately addressed by the
fire department. When this happens -
Immediately share the conclusion with the management and appropriate officials
What are the three common sources of after-action reports?
NIOSH,
www.firefighterclosecalls.com
www.firefighternearmiss.com
What is the eternal enemy of every building?
Gravity.
According to Brannigan, forces attributable to gravity and other sources of stress on the structure are
called -
Loads
NFPA 5000: Building Construction and Safety Code says, “Forces or other actions that result from the
weight of all building materials, occupants and their possessions, environmental effects, differential
movement, and restrained dimensional changes” are defined as -
Loads.
Loads are external forces acting on buildings. What are internal forces that resist loads called?
Stress \ Strain
What is the force per unit area that produces a deformation called?
Stress.
How is stress measured?
Pounds per square inch (psi).
Occasionally pounds per square foot (psf).
KIP is an engineering term meaning -
1,000 pounds.
The actual percentage of elongation (deformation) that occurs when a material is stressed is -
Strain
Which is not one of the four types of forces that can be applied to a structural member?
Strain.
What is a force that squeezes a structural member?
Compression.
What is a force that stretches a structural member?
Tension.
What is a twisting force known as?
Torsion.
The measurable turning force applied to a structural member is which of the following
Torque.