Written by Michael Thervil
Good Samaritan Patrick Davis and US Military Veteran directed traffic flow to prevent people from getting injured during the fire blaze.
Fire. It provides us not only heat in the winter, but it allows us to cook a lot of our favorite foods. But we fail to understand and often take for granted the dangers of fire, especially in the extreme temperatures the world is facing as of right now. In fact, this summer has been deemed the hottest one on record. Today we are highlighting a fire outbreak that occurred in the City of Houston at a property managed by [name]. Because of the combination of extreme heat and other factors, a significant portion of their wooden fence line has been burned down.
Granted this could be considered a small fire, but as you well know, small fires if not extinguished have the capabilities of transitioning into larger fires that can rage out of control. Case in point, just this past Sunday there was a large mulch fire that occurred in the city of Houston Texas located at 5800 Crawford Road that burned for 6 hours before being extinguished by the Houston Fire Department. This would be the second fire that occurred at that location and facility.
However, the fire that we are featuring here draws the same conclusion as the fire that burned for 6 hours over this past weekend – Fire/Arson Investigators have no clues as to how or what started the fire in the first place. Although knowing the source of how these fires began would be great, we at VEDA magazine can provide you with some tips on how you can practice fire prevention and safety measures in your immediate surroundings.
The first thing you need to know is the “Fire Triangle”. The Fire Triangle consists of oxygen, heat, and fuel, all of which when combined creates combustion. When you have all three of these things combined then you have the potential for a fire to occur. Hence, in order to prevent a fire from happening you must remove one or more of the things that comprise the Fire Triangle. Secondly, if you do find yourself in the face of a fire, you’ll have anywhere between 3-5 seconds to put it out. Anything beyond that, you run the significant risk of a fire becoming too out of control for you to put out.
Also be sure that you have updated and properly working fire extinguishers in your home. Check the service tags on them to make sure that the fire extinguisher is up to date. Secondly, familiarize yourself with the PASS System. PASS stands for “Pull”, “Aim”, “Spray” at the base of the fire, and “Sweep” the nozzle of the fire extinguisher from right to left as you spray the fire extinguisher. Moreover, be sure that you know and understand the different classifications of fires. The classes of fire consist of A, B, C, D, and K.
“Class A” fires consist of items such as wood, paper, and clothing. Water is fine to use to extinguish these fires. Next there are “Class B” fires. These fires consist of flammable liquids such as grease, oils, paints, and solvents. Do not use water to extinguish these types of fires. Thirdly, you have “Class C” fires. These are fires that are caused by electrical equipment. Do not use fire to extinguish these types of fires. “Class D” fires consist of combustible metals such as magnesium and aluminum. These types of fires burn really hot, and water should not be used to extinguish these types of fires. Lastly, there are “Class K” fires which consist of cooking oils, animal fats and vegetable oils. So do not use water to extinguish these fires.
If you live in Houston Texas, and you need more tips on fire prevention and safety contact the Houston Fire Department for information. If you live outside of Houston Texas or anywhere else in the United States, please feel free to contact your local fire station to get more tips on fire prevention and safety.
Luckily for everyone the fire safety industry makes some fire extinguishers that are great to use on multiple types of fires so that you don’t have to scramble to find the “right” kind of fire extinguisher. Be sure to ask a fire safety professional so that they can prescribe the right kind of fire extinguisher for your fire prevention and safety needs. As always enjoy the photos.
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