Firefighting

Firefighting is the act of extinguishing fires. A firefighter fights fires to prevent loss of life, and/or destruction of property and the environment. Firefighting is a highly technical skill that requires professionals who have spent years training in both general firefighting techniques and specialized areas of expertise.

Firefighters' duties
Firefighters' goals are to save life, property and the environment. A fire can rapidly spread and endanger many lives; however, with modern firefighting techniques, catastrophe is usually, but not always, avoided. To prevent fires from starting, a firefighter's duties include public education and conducting fire inspections. Because firefighters are often the first responders to people in critical conditions, firefighters may provide many other valuable services to the community they serve, such as: Emergency medical services, as technicians or as licensed paramedics, staffing ambulances; Hazardous materials mitigation (HAZMAT); Vehicle Rescue/Extrication; Search and rescue; Community disaster support. Fire Risk Assessments Additionally, firefighters may also provide service in specialized fields, such as:

Aircraft/airport rescue; Wildland fire suppression; Shipboard and military fire and rescue; Tactical paramedic support ("SWAT medics"); Tool hoisting; High Angle Rope Rescue; Swiftwater Rescue. Trench Rescue

Confined Space Rescue Building Collapse Cold Water Rescue

Science of extinguishment Fire elements[5] There are four elements needed to start and sustain a fire and/or flame. These elements are classified in the fire tetrahedron and are: Reducing agent (fuel) Heat Self-sustained chemical chain reaction Oxidizing agent (oxygen) The reducing agent, or fuel, is the substance or material that is being oxidized or burned in the combustion process. The most common fuels contain carbon along with combinations of hydrogen and oxygen. Heat is the energy component of the fire tetrahedron. When heat comes into contact with a fuel, it provides the energy necessary for ignition, causes the continuous production and ignition of fuel vapors or gases so that the combustion reaction can continue, and causes the vaporization of solid and liquid fuels. The self-sustained chemical chain reaction is a complex reaction that requires a fuel, an oxidizer, and heat energy to come together in a very specific way. A chain reaction is a series of reactions that occur in sequence with the results of each individual reaction being added to the rest. This happens in the science of fire, but is self-sustaining in that it continues without interruption. An oxidizing agent is a material or substance that when the proper conditions exist will release gases, including oxygen. This is crucial to the sustainment of a flame or fire.

A fire helicopter is used to fight a wildfire A fire can be extinguished by taking away any of the four components of the tetrahedron.[5] One method to extinguish a fire is to use water. The first way that water extinguishes a fire is by cooling, which removes heat from the fire. This is possible through waters ability to absorb massive amounts of heat by converting water to water vapor. Without heat, the fuel cannot keep the oxidizer from reducing the fuel to sustain the fire. The second way water extinguishes a fire is by smothering the fire. When water is heated to its boiling point, it converts to water vapor. When this conversion takes place, it

dilutes the oxygen in the air with water vapor, thus removing one of the elements that the fire requires to burn. This can also be done with foam. Another way to extinguish a fire is fuel removal. This can be accomplished by stopping the flow of liquid or gaseous fuel or by removing solid fuel in the path of a fire. Another way to accomplish this is to allow the fire to burn until all the fuel is consumed, at which point the fire will self-extinguish. One final extinguishing method is chemical flame inhibition. This can be accomplished through dry chemical and halogenated agents. These agents interrupt the chemical chain reaction and stop flaming. This method is effective on gas and liquid fuels because they must flame to burn.

Equipments
Fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher, flame extinguisher, or simply an extinguisher, is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations. It is not intended for use on an out-ofcontrol fire, such as one which has reached the ceiling, endangers the user (i.e., no escape route, smoke, explosion hazard, etc.), or otherwise requires the expertise of a fire department. Typically, a fire extinguisher consists of a hand-held cylindrical pressure vessel containing an agent which can be discharged to extinguish a fire. In the United States, fire extinguishers, in all buildings other than houses, are generally required to be serviced and inspected by a Fire Protection service company at least annually. Some jurisdictions require more frequent service for fire extinguishers. The servicer places a tag on the extinguisher to indicate the type of service performed (annual inspection, recharge, new fire extinguisher) and when. There are two main types of fire extinguishers: stored pressure and cartridge-operated. In stored pressure units, the expellant is stored in the same chamber as the firefighting agent itself. Depending on the agent used, different propellants are used. With dry chemical extinguishers, nitrogen is typically used; water and foam extinguishers typically use air. Stored pressure fire extinguishers are the most common type. Cartridge-operated extinguishers contain the expellant gas in a separate cartridge that is punctured prior to discharge, exposing the propellant to the extinguishing agent. This type is not as common, used primarily in areas such as industrial facilities, where they receive higher-than-average use. They have the advantage of simple and prompt recharge, allowing an operator to discharge the extinguisher, recharge it, and return to the fire in a reasonable amount of time. Unlike stored pressure types, these extinguishers use compressed carbon dioxide instead of nitrogen, although nitrogen cartridges are used on low temperature (-60 rated) models. Cartridge operated extinguishers are available in dry chemical and dry powder types in the US and in water, wetting agent, foam, dry chemical (classes ABC and BC), and dry powder (class D) types in the rest of the world. Fire extinguishers are further divided into handheld and cart-mounted, also called wheeled extinguishers. Handheld extinguishers weigh from 0.5 to 14 kilograms (1 to 30 pounds), and are hence, easily portable by hand. Cart-mounted units typically weigh 23+ kilograms (50+ pounds). These wheeled

models are most commonly found at construction sites, airport runways, heliports, as well as docks and marinas.

FIRE-FIGHTING SYSTEMS
FIREMAIN SYSTEMS

The firemain system receives water pumped from the sea. It distributes this water to fireplugs, sprinkling systems, flushing systems, machinery cooling-water systems, washdown systems, and other systems as required. The firemain system is used primarily to supply the fireplug and the sprinkling systems; the other uses of the system are secondary. TYPES OF FIREMAIN SYSTEMS Navy ships have three basic types of firemain systems. They are as follows: 1. The single-main system 2. The horizontal loop system 3. The vertical offset loop system The type of firemain system in any particular ship depends upon the characteristics and functions of the ship. Small ships generally have a straight-line, single-main system. Large ships usually have one of the loop systems or a composite system, which is some combination or variation of the three basic types. The design of the three basic types of firemain systems is as follows:

1. The single-main firemain system shown in figure 6-1 consists of a single piping run that extends fore and aft. This type of firemain is generally installed near the centerline of the ship, extending forward and aft as far as necessary. 2. The horizontal loop firemain system shown in figure 6-2 consists of two single fore-and-aft, cross-connected piping runs. The two individual lengths of piping are installed in the same horizontal plane (on the same deck) but are separated athwartships as far as practical.

MAGAZINE SPRINKLER SYSTEMS

Sprinkler systems are used for emergency cooling of, and fire fighting in, magazines, ready-service rooms, ammunition, and missile handling areas. A magazine sprinkler system consists of a network of pipes. These pipes are secured to the overhead and connected by a sprinkler system control valve to the ships firemain system. The pipes are fitted with spray heads or sprinkler-head valves. They are arranged so the water forced through them showers all parts of the magazine or ammunition and missile-handling areas. A modern sprinkler system can wet down all exposed bulkheads at the rate of 2 gallons per minute per square

foot. It can sprinkle the deck area at the rate of 4 gallons per minute per square foot. Magazine sprinkler systems can completely flood their designated spaces within an hour. To prevent unnecessary flooding of adjacent areas, all compartments equipped with sprinkler systems are watertight. Upper deck handling and ready-service rooms are equipped with drains that limit the water level to a few inches. The valves that control the operation of the magazine sprinkler system are as follows: 1. The manual control valve. This valve permits hydraulic operation of the sprinkler valve. 2. The hydraulically operated remote control valve. This diaphragm operated globe type valve is opened by operating pressure acting against the underside of the disk and closed by operating pressure acting on top of the diaphragm. This valve permits the sprinkler valve to be secured from other stations, whether or not it was manually or automatically actuated. 3. The spring-loaded lift check valve. This spring-loaded, diaphragm operated, lift check valve closes tightly against the reverse flowand opens wide to permit flow in the normal direction. Spring-loaded lift

check valves permit the control system to be operated from more than one control station by preventing backflow through the other stations. 4. The hydraulically operated check valve. This valve permits the operating pressure to be vented from the diaphragm chamber of the magazine-sprinkling valve, thereby permitting that valve to close rapidly and completely. 5. Power operated check valve. This piston operated poppet type valve is opened by pressure from the close loop of the actuating pressure acting against the piston. The Gunners Mates assigned to a ships company maintain the magazine sprinkler systems. However, personnel in the Damage Controlman rating must consider what effect their maintenance or repair on the firemain system will have on the magazine sprinkler systems.