Although we can do our utmost to prevent fires from happening by
isolating the sources of heat from combustibles and oxygen, it is
often the unexpected event that catches us unawares.
Carelessness
Sometimes, forgetfulness can result in an accidental fire. Putting a
kettle to boil water on a gas stove and forgetting about it can be
disastrous. When all the water has evaporated, the kettle becomes red
hot, melt and spread the molten metal around.
LP gas leaks are also dangerous. If the fuel-air mixture is in just
the right proportion, an explosion can occur when a heat source is
introduced in. Many accidents have occurred when a light is switched on
in an explosive environment. The correct thing to do then is to free the
room of any gas by shutting off the source of the gas and letting in more
fresh air into the room.
Chemical reactions can also cause heat and fire. Mixing acids and
alkalis, mixing components of some household glue like epoxy resins and
hardeners can generate quite a substantial amount of heat that can lead
to fires. The containers used and the amount of chemical used can have a
great effect on the heat produced. Plastic containers are known to melt
and burn when large quantities of thermosetting plastics like epoxies are
mixed with hardeners.
Fires are also known to be started by the careless smokers who throw
lighted cigarette butts indiscriminately. Many bush fires are started
this way. Some areas are especially vulnerable to careless acts like
these. People working in the garage at home should be very careful not
to cause a fire, especially with open petrol cans and other volatile
fuels around them. Sometimes, smokers fall asleep while smoking, and
their bed or sofa catches fire. The rubber foam mattress used for
bedding can catch fire easily.
Although most electrical equipment is quite safe as far as fire is
concerned, the use of sub-standard and poorly designed equipment may
give rise to overheating and fires. Carelessness in the area of
electrical appliances can cause fires as well as electrical shocks.
Many households use multiple power points because they have many
electrical equipment that must be used at the same time. Videos,
television, fans, radios, and fancy lights may occupy only one
electrical socket. When a multiple adapter is used, usually the
connection pins cannot be fitted very tightly. The loose power
connections are a source of sparking and deterioration of the insulation
materials and can lead to fires.
This will be worst if high powered appliances are used because the
electrical current drawn from these will be very much higher and so the
wires and connections gets hotter.
Preventive Measures
Since we know that all the three conditions of heat, fuel and oxygen
must be present in order for a fire to start; our basic fire prevention
strategy must be to keep them isolated from each other. Heat sources
must be kept away from combustible materials and if possible, from
oxygen.
We should take a critical look at all the sources of heat in the home.
They are the potential fire hazards. It is good to make an audit of our
own homes and make a list, or at least be aware of all the heat sources
in the home. Electrical wiring, appliances, gas stoves, kerosene lamps,
candles, electrical light bulbs, ovens, electrical kettles, barbecue
fires, burning garden refuse, and so on, are some of them. Even spells
of dry weather should be looked at with vigilance.
The sources of heat are many. Below are some of the sources of heat
that we have to exercise caution, so that we can be especially careful
not to let them come into contact with combustibles:
· Kitchen Gas Appliances - The normal appliances in the kitchen are the
gas stoves, and the kerosene stoves. These are normally safe, efficient
and seldom gives trouble. However, the conditions of the kitchen stoves
are often spoilt by spillage of soups, gravies, and other food materials
from the cooking processes. After a long time of use, and especially
with cooks who do not take special precautions, the gas stove become
blackened with carbon, oil and other debris. Gas orifices and nozzles
get choked up. Carbon deposits pile up. The carbon deposits become its
other source of fuel. The soot fire can burn if it is heated long
enough.
The environment in a busy kitchen can make it a fire risk. Gas hoses
are especially prone to deteriorate if the material used can be attacked
by the presence of oil. Cooking oil is ever present in the kitchen
environment. Hoses coated by a layer of oil will produce leaks. Any leak
in the gas hoses is dangerous. It can shoot flames of fire all around
the place uncontrollably and spread the fire.
Do a regular check on your gas hoses and service your gas stove regularly.
· Electrical Installations and Appliances - Mains electrical wiring and
their components can be a hidden source of heat that can cause a fire.
Sometimes, due to loose contacts in the terminals of electrical
switchboxes, some sparking will occur. If this is not found out early and
rectified, the sparking will become worse, and the heat produced becomes
more. Carbonization of the insulation materials will occur. Once the
carbon gets deposited on the insulation materials, it becomes a conductor
of electricity. Short-circuiting of the electrical wiring will occur
leading to overheating of the wiring. If the electrical protection
devices do not work, the overheating will cause the insulation materials
of the wiring to even melt or decompose. When the decomposition gases
given out by the insulation materials catch fire, the whole house can be
burnt down.
Do a regular check up of your electrical wiring in your house, and
quickly call in a qualified electrician to rectify any fault.
Electrical appliances also have to be used properly. When people modify
equipment indiscriminately, sometimes they leave out or bypass certain
safety features put in by the manufacturer. Appliances can become
overheated and cause burning. It is better not to do any modification
unless you know what you are doing.
Do not do bypass any safety feature in any electrical appliance.
· Burning of candles, garden refuse, incense, mosquito coils and
other open burning - The sources of heat is quite obvious. When we do
any open burning, make sure that the source of heat is not able to
reach other surrounding materials. It is good practice to clear the area
before doing open burning. We must also think about how to control the
fire if it gets too big. Be ready to dose the fire with water if it gets
too big.
We know that we need a source of heat, a fuel, and oxygen in order to
have a fire. Other than looking at all the places where we encounter
sources of heat, it is good preventive practice to store easily
combustible materials safely. Some materials do not need a lot of heat
in order to ignite, while some materials can be kept at quite high
temperatures without any fire occurring. We need to identify the easily
combustible materials and keep them out of harms way.
Some materials in the home are known to be easily combustible. It is
advisable to store these materials in a cool and isolated place away
from the house if possible. Should a fire occur by any chance, they
will have less opportunity to spread. Below are a list of commonly used
inflammable materials in the home. However, the list is not exhaustible:
· Paints, turpentine, spirit, aerosols for spray paints.
· Kerosene, petrol, diesel, and other oils used for fuel.
· Aerosols used for pesticides
· Paper and wood, especially when dry
· Vegetable oils used in cooking
· Other solvents like nail polish
There are other materials that can catch fire if brought to a source
of heat. Some of them are listed below. The best way to handle these is
to do regular house cleaning to remove them:
· Loose organic dust like sawdust, cotton dust, woolen dust
· Oily deposits from the atmosphere
· Dust and deposits from insects
Involving Others
Sometimes, even though we have taken all the precautions, fires can
still come from a neighbor's house. Sometimes, it can even come from
the sky in the form of fireworks! Sometimes the sparks from a neighbor's
rubbish fire can fly over to your own home and cause a fire.
So it is simply not enough that you alone know how to prevent fires.
The people around you should also know about fire prevention.
Everybody needs to be educated in fire prevention. When a fire happens
in the neighborhood, there is a very real possibility that the fire can
spread to the surrounding houses. It is essential that no fires at all
start in any of the houses in the neighborhood or even the community.
When everyone understands the grave consequences of their actions, the
fire risk becomes more manageable.
Children are especially high potential fire starters if they are not
taught about the risks. With their natural curiosity, playing with fire
comes naturally to them at some point in their life. Adults have the
responsibility to impart the knowledge of fire prevention and the
consequences of fire to them quite early in their growing up years.
In order for adults to have this knowledge themselves, the relevant
authorities should organize courses on fire safety and fire safety
awareness campaigns. The media, including newspapers, magazines,
television and radio, has an important role to play in getting the
message of fire prevention to the general public. Their message should
be able to reach the masses and ingrain in them the importance of fire
prevention.
The message of fire prevention should be delivered continuously over a
long period of time. A fire safety campaign should only be considered
successful when people considers fire prevention a natural thing to do.
It must become habit and a daily way of life. Then only can lives and
properties be secured.
The knowledge of fire prevention is even more important than fire
detection and fire fighting. If a fire does not start, or is prevented
from starting, there is no longer any need for fire detection and fire
fighting. Everybody should be preventing fires even before it can start.
Is prevention enough?
Sometimes, we have done the best we can. We have isolated the sources
of heat. We have stored away inflammable materials away from sources
of heat. We have done whatever we can to the best of our knowledge.
Can a fire still start?
Incidents of fire can still happen. For example, a mouse in your house
may decide to chew on your highly powered electrical wires, or a lizard
may managed to crawl into your electrical switchboard and cause a short
circuit, or the hot weather may cause the weeds and bushes around your
house to catch fire.
So while steps taken for the prevention of fires will keep us safe most
of the time, it is also good to be prepared in case a fire still starts
despite our actions.
There are portable smoke detectors available in the market for those who
want to have an early warning when a fire starts. This can in fact be
considered prevention too - preventing a large fire. These smoke
detectors will be able to alert the occupants about any small fires so
that it can be put off before it becomes large and unmanageable. It can
prevent loss of property and lives. Any fires detected early have a
very good chance of being extinguished.
It is also good to keep a portable fire extinguisher at home for the
purpose of putting out small fires. For the home, the most suitable
portable fire extinguisher to keep is a dry powder extinguisher because
it will be able to handle all the likely classes of fires found in the
home. It can be used to put out fires involving solid materials like
wood and paper, oils and even electrical fires without the risk of
electrical shocks.
In conclusion, when we are able to instill awareness of fire prevention
to all the people around us, we will have won the battle with fire.
Fire becomes our ally and we can tap its benefits without worrying about
its consequences.
Fire becomes our friend and not our foe.
Protect your home with Fire Alarms at
Smoke Detector About the Author
Many years of working experience in Marine, Facilities,
Construction has given the author material for writing e-books
and articles related to engineering, and management. Subscribe to facworld ezine
More information at Marine and M & E