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Fire Safety Essay The entire casualty of a fire to a society may be equal to all the fire hazards in the society; this would comprise of the buildings, agriculture, transportation, and so on. A lot of factors contribute to the total cost. With regards to the damage caused by the fires we have, definitely, the direct casualty of life, harm and the real economic losses due to the occurrence of fire. There are indirect or important outcomes because of the disorder of amenities, loss of trade, and means of employment. There is also community distress and unease, specifically the subsequent chief catastrophes and the cost of any hassle caused. The outlay of fire safety procedures includes costs meant for fire prevention, fire control when they occur, and extenuating their direct and indirect aftermath. This comprises the cost of services such as the fire contingent, fire indemnity, and an extensive part of building power or other variable measures (Rasbash, 2004). The Nature of the Fire Hazard The hazard of fire is the result of unrestrained, exothermic responses, particularly involving natural resources and air. It is predominantly connected with flammable materials and energy resources utilized by people in daily life. Although fire intimidates both the living and their property, and its management costs much disbursement, the danger must be situated against the advantage achieved from these properties so that an unbiased view can be attained. Furthermore, existing principles are greatly reliant on the utilization of buildings. The additional risk when fires happen in an enclosed space, by means of the increased temperature and smoke being trapped rather than moving comparatively safely upward, requires being located against the essential worth of using buildings. It then follows that one cannot, in general abolish the danger of fire, although one can lessen it to an adequately low intensity by appropriate design measures (Kiurski, 1999). Major Fire Hazard Areas Loss and damage caused by fire can occur anytime activity happens. Maybe the most common setting for such activity is inside buildings. Such incorporate both domestic and nondomestic grounds, and the latter can expand to a broad array of tenure, such as various factories, establishment structures where there are particular dangers to the community, these includes areas of open assemblies and spaces where people sleep, like hotels and hospitals. Business occupancies broaden further than building structures to take in mines, process plants within open, offshore mechanisms, agricultural harvests, and forestry. Lastly there is an entire variety of amenities for highway, rail, marine, and air transportation even lengthening in current period to satellites and space sections. For most of these danger zones, a substantial and expensive fire incidence conditions has built up over the time being and has known to widespread necessities for fire safety. In the world of fire insurance, particular danger locations are regularly called â€Å"risks† (Rasbash, 2004). The Chemistry of Fire Fire is basically a chemical reaction that involves the rapid oxidation of combustible material or fuel, with the subsequent liberation of heat and light. In a typical community, all the elements essential for fire to begin are present – fuel, heat or ignition source, and oxygen (air). However, recent research suggests that fourth factor is present. This factor has been classified as a reaction chain in which burning continues and even action of the molecules from the material burning with the oxygen in the atmosphere. Fires have been divided into four classes based in the nature of combustible material and requirements for extinguishment: Class A: usual flammable solid equipment, such as paper, wood, plastic, and fabric. Class B: flammable liquids/gases and combustible petroleum products. Class C: electrical apparatus that are keyed up or energized. Class D: combustible/reactive metals, such as magnesium, sodium, and potassium (Bishop, Fody, Schoeff, 2004). Fire Extinguishment and Inhibition The most basic and most efficient approach on hand to the architect to guarantee fire safety is to avoid fires from starting, that is fire prevention. If this tactic is successful, then there is no need even to attempt any other fire safety measure. Prevention of ignition and the limitation of the fuel available are the twin methods of fire prevention. In scheming to lessen the explosion danger, there are two things the architect has to do: firstly plan out the assumed explosion danger or causes; and secondly, to facilitate the infrastructure to be controlled in such an approach that the danger of explosion is get rid of. The actual design against the risk and the design to permit management against the risk must be seen together. The first necessity for the designer is an understanding of the most likely ignition risks in the particular building type under construction: it is essential to know your enemy if it is going to be defeated. Probably the most common cause of ignition, and certainly the hardest to design against, is human carelessness. Almost all fires started by smoking materials or matches could be avoided, and yet these are one of the major causes of domestic fires and consequent loss of life. Similarly, the continuing high incidence of fires concerned with cookers and stoves are normally due to human carelessness (Stollard Abrahams, 1999). Types and Applications of Fire Extinguishers Just as fires have been divided into classes, fire extinguishers are divided into classes that correspond to the type of fire to be extinguished. Be certain to choose the right type – using the wrong type of extinguisher may be dangerous. For example, do not use water on burning liquids or electrical equipment. Pressurized-water extinguishers, as well as suds and multi-use dry-chemical types, are used for Class A fires. For Class B and C fires, on the other hand, multi-use dry-chemical and carbon dioxide extinguishers are used. Halogenated hydrocarbon extinguishers are particularly recommended for use with computer equipment. Class D fires present special problems, and extinguishment is left to trained firefighters using special dry-chemical extinguishers. Personnel should know the location and type of portable fire extinguisher near their work area and know how to use an extinguisher before a fire occurs. In the event of fire, first evacuate all personnel, patients, and visitors who are in immediate danger and then activate the fire alarm, report the fire, and attempt to extinguish the fire, if possible. Personnel should work as a team to carry out emergency procedure. Fire drills must be conducted regularly and with appropriate documentation (Bishop et al. , 2004). Fire Safety Codes Fire safety codes and regulations exist to provide a reasonable measure of safety in a building from fire, explosions, or other comparable emergencies. The model code used by most jurisdictions is the Life Safety Code written by the National Fire Protection Association, Covering many of the same concerns with design, construction, and materials as in the building codes, the Life Safety Code attempts to lessen the danger to life from fire, smoke, and hazardous fumes and gases. The intent of these codes is to prevent a fire whenever possible. However, since all fires cannot be prevented, the codes also focus on fore control. Fire prevention is facilitated by the regulation of hazards and such things as controls on the kinds of material – both construction and furnishings – that can be used in buildings. Fire safety control is facilitated by the requirement of fire sprinklers, fire doors, and the like. Fire codes focus on such matters as egress interior architectural finishes, and fire protection equipment such as sprinklers and smoke detectors. Fire regulations related to furniture construction and fabrics or finishes are more a matter of federal, state and local regulations (Piotrowski, 2001). Contribution of Fire Safety Engineering Fire safety engineering can be defined as the application of scientific and engineering principles to the effects of fire in order to reduce the loss of life and damage to property by quantifying the risks and hazards involved and to provide an optimal solution to the application of preventive or protective measures. The concept of fire safety engineering may be applied to any situation where fire is a potential hazard. Although this text is mainly concerned with building structures, similar principles are equally applicable to the problems associated with oil or gas installations or other structures such as highway bridges. The additional hazards from gas and oil installations are primarily caused by the far more rapid growth of fire and the associated faster rates of temperature rise. This has been recognized by considering the testing of material response under heating regimes other than those associated with the more conventional cellulosic fires. The design methods are, however, similar to those for the situation covered by the more normal cellulosic based fires (Purkiss, 1996). Conclusion: Sticking to Basics Most instructive programs of any kind boil down to making an audience aware of a few key points. A rule of thumb in virtually any kind of education is that the more elementary a skill or given bit of knowledge is the more valuable it is. A general, fundamental rule can be more generally applied in everyday life than one that is tied to more advanced principles. For the fire service, this means educating an audience on basic means of prevention and coping with emergencies – subjects that professional firefighters might almost take for granted or consider obvious, but about which the average citizen may never have given much thought (Kiurski, 1999). References: Bishop, M. L. , Fody, E. P. , Schoeff, L. (2004). Clinical Chemistry: Principles, Procedures, Correlations (5th ed. ). New York: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Kiurski, T. (1999). Creating a Fire-Safe Community: A Guide for Fire Safety Educators. New Jersey: PennWell Books. Piotrowski, C. M. (2001). Professional Practice for Interior Designers (3rd ed. ). Canada: John Wiley and Sons. Purkiss, J. A. (1996). Fire Safety Engineering Design of Structures. Oxford: Elsevier. Rasbash, D. (2004). Evaluation of Fire Safety. England: John Wiley and Sons. Stollard, P. , Abrahams, J. (1999). Fire from First Principles: A Design Guide to Building Fire Safety (3rd ed. ). London and New York: Taylor Francis.