Fighting a fire starts with taking necessary fire safety precautions. The steps involved in tackling a fire are fire prevention, fire detection and fire extinguishment. Extinguishing fire is carried out with the aid of equipment and technology.
Fire needs three elements to be present, this is known as the fire triangle. The three elements to be present before we can have a fire are heat, oxygen and fuel.
Fire prevention
Fire prevention is the steps taken to prevent the outbreak of fires. The principle is based on avoiding one of the 3 elements of fire being present in the right amount to cause a fire to occur.
Fire prevention principles include
- Good knowledge of possible causes of fire.
- Understanding of the level of risk involved.
- Good housekeeping.
Fire detection
Fire detection is detecting fire in its early stage and this is achieved by installing detectors which help by early detection of the presence of flammable gases or rise in temperature.
The various kinds of available fire detection devices are
- Smoke detectors.
- Heat detectors.
- Flame or gas detectors.
- Fire alarms.
Extinguishing fire
Extinguishing fire is putting out the fire by removing one the three elements of fire by deploying the right firefighting equipment.
You can put out a fire by:
- Cooling: Removing the heat so that the fire temperature falls below the ignition temperature;
- Smothering: Cutting off the air supply (reducing the oxygen that can get to the fire); or
- Starving: Getting rid of the fuel from the fire.
This idea is called breaking the fire triangle and it’s the basic theory of fighting most fires.
Firefighting Equipment
Firefighting equipment are the equipment used to put out fires and are placed in strategic locations in our built environment.
The commonly deployed fire fighting equipment include
- Emergency fuel and electric cut off device.
- Fire extinguisher.
- Fire blanket.
- FM 200.
- Fire hydrant.
- Fire resistant wear.
- Fire hose reel.
- Fire sprinkler.
- Fire truck.
- Drone.
Regular maintenance of these firefighting equipment should be carried out by certified professionals.
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Kazeem Olugbade, ProFM, is a facility management professional who has extensive knowledge and skills in the subject areas.
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