Structural Firefighting Flashcards
What are the (4) sides of the fire tetrahedron?
- Heat
- Oxygen
- Fuel
- Chemical Reaction
Define flashover?
- Flashover may occur where a large amount of combustible gas is produced, in an environment with adequate oxygen supply
- These gases are subsequently heated to their ignition temperature
- This results in all combustible material in the compartment catching fire.
Goes from ‘a fire in a room’ to ‘a room on fire’
What is B-SAHF and what does it stand for?
B(2) - S(5)A(4)H(3)F(1)
Its used for reading a structural fire.
Building (style and materials)
Smoke (volume, velocity, density, colour & neutral plane)
Air Track (inlets/outlets, velocity, direction & pulsations)
Heat (blackening, blistering & sudden heat build-up)
Flame (colour)
What are the (3) structural methods of attack?
- Direct
- Indirect
- Gas cooling
*Transitional may be a 4th
Define Auto Ignition Temperature (AIT)?
The minimum temperature required to cause self-sustained combustion in any substance, in the absence of a spark or flame.
What are the (3) extreme fire behaviours?
- Flashover
- Backdraught
- Fire Gas Ignition
Define backdraught?
- Occurs when oxygen is introduced to a room containing a severly under ventilated fire (depleted of adequate air) and large volumes of unignited super-heated gas.
- The oxygen combines with the superheated gases causing it to enter its flammability range and explode
Define Fire Gas Ignition?
When flammable fire gases already in their flammability range travel to other areas of a structure and are ignited by an ignition source (such as travelling embers).