What is a Sinkhole?
• They can also occur from the over pumping
A sinkhole is essentially any hole in the ground
created by erosion and the drainage of water. They
can be just a few feet across or large enough to
swallow whole buildings. Although they’re often
the result of natural processes, they can also be
triggered by human activity.
Though most are only 10 to 12 feet
in diameter, sinkholes have been known to expand
to hundreds of feet in diameter.
How are Sinkholes Formed?
Artificial Processes
Sinkholes can be triggered by human activities such
as:
Over withdrawal of groundwater
Diverting surface water from a large area and
concentrating it in a single point
Artificially creating ponds of surface water
Drilling new water wells
*Sinkholes also form from human activity, such as
the collapse of abandoned mines and salt cavern
storage in salt domes.
• Sinkholes occur in urban areas due to water
main breaks or sewer collapses when old
pipes give way.
and extraction of groundwater and
subsurface fluids.
*Sinkholes can also form when natural
water-drainage patterns are changed and new
water-diversion systems are developed.
* Some sinkholes form when the land surface is
changed, such as when industrial and runoff-
storage ponds are created; the substantial weight
of the new material can trigger an underground
collapse of supporting material, thus causing a
sinkhole.
Natural Processes
Rainfall percolating, or seeping, through the
soil absorbs carbon dioxide and reacts with
decaying vegetation, creating a slightly acidic
water. That water moves through spaces and
cracks underground, slowly dissolving limestone
and creating a network of cavities and voids. As the
limestone dissolves, pores and cracks are enlarged
and carry even more acidic water. (Suffosion)
Sinkholes are formed when the land surface above
collapses or sinks into the cavities or when surface
material is carried downward into the voids.
Drought, along with resulting high groundwater
withdrawals, can make conditions favorable for
sinkholes to form. Also, heavy rains after droughts
often cause enough pressure on the ground to
create sinkholes.
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the
exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing
heat, light, and various reaction products.

Fire hazards

• Include all types of live flames, causes of

sparks, hot objects, and chemicals that are
potential for ignition, or that can aggravate a
fire to become large and uncontrolled.

• Include all types of potential threats to fire

prevention practices, fire fighting, built-in fire
safety systems and situations that restrict the
escape of people from an affected building or
area in the event of a fire.

• Fire hazards pose threats to life and property.

It is, therefore, the prime object of safety
systems to detect, remove or reduce the risk of
fire threatened by these potential hazards.

Common fire hazards

Fire tetrahedron
• All types of flames used for any work

• Electric wires, higher loads, loose connections

and old electrical equipment

• All cooking and heat generating appliances

• All works and situations where fire is essential

such as welding, cutting, metal casting etc.

• Improper storage of tools, equipment and

Stages of fire
• items during and at the end of the day’s work
1. Ignition(incipient)
• Smoking and personal lighters and matches
2. Growth stage
• Fireworks, pyro-techniques, ammunitions and
explosives * flashover- non explosive, abrupt spread of fire
through the air
• Improper and unauthorized storage of
flammable and hazardous materials and 1. Fully-developed fire stage
chemical especially the flammable ones
2. Decay stage
• Insufficient capacity and numbers of
* backdraft- is an explosive fire.
emergency exits and stairs

• Hindrance to sight or reach fire fighting

equipment, markings and alarm systems

• Insufficient numbers and types of fire

extinguishers

• Absence of fire detection and alarm system

• Violation of building and fire codes

Elements of fire

• The triangle illustrates the three elements a fire

needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing
agent (usually oxygen).
Causes of building fires
1. Unattended cooking equipment and other
household fire sources
2. Electrical appliances and wiring problems
- Improper house wiring
3. Haphazardly stored flammable liquids and other
easily combustible materials
Fireworks and firecrackers
4. arson
Fighting different types of fires
• CLASS A – fires involve fuel such as cloth, wood,
paper, plastics , rubber, and trash
• CLASS B – fires involve combustible liquid fuel
such as alcohols, gasoline, lacquers, oil-based
paint, petroleum oil and grease, solvents, and
combustible gas fuel such as propane and
butane. Cooking oil and grease are not
included- these fall under another class
• CLASS C – fires involve fuel belong to either
class A or B but which also involve powered
electrical equipment like home appliances,
motors, and transformers
• CLASS D – fires involve combustible metals,
such as aluminum, lithium, magnesium,
potassium, sodium, titanium and zirconium.
Automobiles usually contain most of these
combustible metals
• CLASS K – fires involve fuels such as cooking oils
and greases (animal- and vegetable –fat
derived).
Choosing fire extinguishers
• 1. WATER AND FOAM - water and foam
extinguishers both isolate the heat element
while foam extinguishers block oxygen to
prevent it from interacting with other
elements in the fire tetrahedron. Water
extinguishers should be used only for Class A
fires and not on Class B or C fires because
these could cause a class B fire to spread and
Class C fire to create an electric shock hazard.
• 3. DRY CHEMICAL – extinguishers put out the
fire mainly by breaking the continuity of the
chemical reaction of the fire tetrahedron.
• The multipurpose dry chemical extinguishers is
the most widely used extinguisher which can
be used to put out class A, B, and C fires.
• This type of fire extinguisher also works by
preventing the oxygen and fuel from
interacting in Class A fires.
• 4. WET CHEMICAL- extinguishers remove the
heat in the fire tetrahedron and prevent the
fire from starting again by preventing the
oxygen and fuel from interacting.
• These are used to extinguish class K fires,
especially commercial cooking equipment like
deep fryers.
• These can also be used to put out class A fires
in kitchens.
• 5. CLEAN AGENT- also known as
HALOGENATED extinguishers, contain halon
agents and halocarbon agents (which are less
harmful to the ozone).
• These put out the fire mainly by breaking the
continuity of the chemical reaction of the fire
tetrahedron and are used commonly for class B
and C fires
• 6. DRY POWDER- extinguishers put out only
class D fires by preventing the oxygen and fuel
from interacting or by removing the heat in the
fire tetrahedron.
• 7. WATER MIST- put out primary class A fires,
but could work as well for class C fires by
isolating the heat element from the other
elements of the fire tetrahedron
The rules for fighting fires
• ACTIVATE the building’s fire alarm system or
dial 117 ( the national emergency telephone
number for the Philippines ) to notify the fire
department of the incident through call or
text.
• ASSIST- anybody who is in need of help to
escape the building , without putting your own
life at risk.
• ATTEMPT – to put out the fire only after doing
these:
* size of the fire
* presence of toxic smoke
* A means of escape
* instinct