Cause And Effect Of Fire Essay

Class D fires, which are also known as combustible metals, can burn with intense heat. Fire fighters need to do their best to avoid having water coming in contact with these kinds of products, such as magnesium and gasoline. According to Robert Vettori, “Magnesium has a strong affinity for oxygen that it attracts the oxygen from oxygen containing compounds” (5). With this said, it shows that the two products burning are both magnesium and an adequate supply of oxygen. The National Fire Protection Association Fire Protection Handbook expresses that water may used to extinguish magnesium fires if it can be applied very quickly as well as in large enough quantities in order to have some type of cooling effect. Class B fires, which are also
According to the University of Massachusetts, “The fire triangle works in that when fuel or flammable materials are heated, the energy that is stored inside begins to react with oxygen in the air, giving off heat. This ends up creating a vicious cycle, which cause the fire to spread. In order to stop the spread of a fire, you have to remove one of these elements to break the triangle”(1). The agent, carbon dioxide, will primarily attack the oxygen side of the triangle. This is done when the carbon dioxide gas is expelled, which makes it turn into a cloud of dry ice. This cloud of dry ice then reduces the amount of oxygen that is in the air around the fire and then smothers it, which is helping extinguish the fire (University of Massachusetts Boston). The agent, sodium chloride, also has the same kind of effect. The heat of the fire tends to cause the dry powder, in which this case is sodium chloride, to cake and form an exterior crust. This crust then excludes air, which ends up in resulting in extinguishment. It also tends to dissipate the heat from the burning metal (University of Massachusetts Boston). By knowing how the suppression agent attacks a specific side of the fire triangle, you will become a much better fire fighter in the