Extinguisher Training
Anatomy of Fire
Fire is a chemical reaction that takes place when a material oxidizes or reacts to oxygen rapidly. In order to extinguish a fire, one part of the tetrahedron needs to be eliminated. The use of an extinguishing agent can be used to reduce either availability of oxygen, the level of heat or both.
Fire safety, at its most basic, is based upon the principle of keeping fuel sources and ignition sources separate.
Four things must be present at the same time in order to produce fire:
- Enough oxygen to sustain combustion,
- Enough heat to raise the material to its ignition temperature,
- Some sort of fuel or combustible material,
- And the chemical, exothermic reaction that is fire.