the highest level of fire resistance.
It's
21-1. What three elements must exist for a
combustion reaction (fire) to occur?
 Oxygen (air), heat, and fuel
21-2. Describe the difference between piloted
ignition temperature and autoignition
temperature.
 Piloted ignition temperature of a fuel
is the temperature at which a fire can start
when a flame or spark begins the
combustion reaction.
 Autoignition temperature, on the other
hand, sometimes called the spontaneous
ignition temperature, is the lowest
temperature at which a combustible
material ignites in air without a spark or
flame.
21-3. Describe the four stages in the
progression of a fire.
 Ignition of a fuel source is the first stage
of fire. It requires the proper blend of
oxygen (air), heat, and fuel.
 Flame Spread which is characteristic of
rapid crawling tongues of fire that lick
across the surface of walls, ceilings, floors
and supporting timbers.
 Flashover Stage – when the mixture of
gases and air reach critical proportions,
the material ignites in a great ball of fire.
 Consumption – is the final stage in the
burning sequence is the fiery consumption
of the material itself as it burns to ash.
21-4. Describe the four classifications of fire by
type of fuel.
 Group A: Ordinary combustibles (wood,
paper, plastics, trash, grass)
 Group B: Flammable liquids (gasoline, oil,
grease, acetone, and so on)
 Group C: Electrical equipment (any
electrical wiring, connection, equipment)
 Group D: combustible metals (potassium,
sodium, aluminum, magnesium)
21-5. Describe the five types of building
construction.
 Fire-Resistive (Type I) Construction –
This construction uses non-combustible
materials like concrete and steel, providing
often found in high-rise buildings.
 Noncombustible (Type II)
Construction – Similar to Type I but with
less stringent fire-resistance ratings. It
typically uses metal structural elements
with non-combustible exterior walls and
roofs.
 Ordinary (Type III) Construction –
Features exterior walls and structural
elements made of non-combustible
materials, while the interior structural
elements and floors can be constructed
from combustible materials like wood.
 Heavy-Timber (Type IV) Construction
– Primarily uses large wooden structural
elements and offers a higher degree of fire
resistance due to the thickness of the
wood elements.
 Wood-Frame (Type V) Construction –
Utilizes wood framing for all elements,
including walls, floors, and roofs. Often
found in residential construction due to its
cost effectiveness, but fire resistance may
be lower compared to other types.
21-6. What is compartmentalizing and why is it
necessary in fighting a fire?
Compartmentalizing means separating a
building into compartments so that if there is a
fire, the fire damage is confined to certain a
room or certain section of the building only.
21-7. What is an intumescent material? Where
is it used?
 An intumescent material swells,
enlarges, inflates, and expands when
exposed to heat.
 Fire-protective intumescent coatings are
applied like paint to structural steel
members at a thickness that ranges from
0.03 to 0.4 in to provide a good fire-
protective barrier.
21-8. What is a fire-resistant rating?
Fire-resistance rating, expressed in hours
or minutes, is a measure of fire endurance, the
elapsed time during which a material or
assembly continues to exhibit fire resistance
under specified conditions.
21-9. How are fire-resistance ratings
established?
The fire-resistance rating is determined in
a standard fire endurance test such as the
method specified in ASTM E 119. This test
method evaluates how long a construction
assembly will contain a fire and how long it
will retain its structural integrity during a
predetermined fire exposure.
19-10. What is a flame-spread rating?
The flame-spread rating (FSR) refers to a
measurement that indicates how quickly
flames travel across the surface of a material.
It's a numerical scale used to assess the
surface-burning characteristics of a building
material.
21-11. How are flame-spread ratings
established?
FRS are established through standardized tests
that measure how quickly flames spread
across the surface of a material. The tests
involve exposing the material to controlled fire
conditions and observing how rapidly the
flames propagate.
21-12. What are passive fire protection and
active fire protection? How are they different?
They are both effective in containing and
fighting a fire.
 Passive fire protection involves
constructing walls, floors, ceilings, beams,
columns, and shaft enclosures so they can
resist, control, and contain the damaging
effects of a fire.
 Active fire protection systems include
standpipe, sprinkler, and spray systems
designed to extinguish the fire outright or
control the fire by delaying its damaging
effects.
21-13. What is a standpipe system?
Standpipe system is an internal piping
network connected to fire-hose stations that
are used to rapidly suppress a fire.
21-14. What are the four types of conventional
automatic fire sprinkler systems and how do
they function?
 Wet-Pipe Automatic Sprinkler
Systems – is the most common type
where water is constantly present in the
pipes. When a sprinkler head detects heat
from a fire, it opens, releasing water
directly onto the fire.
 Dry-Pipe Automatic Sprinkler
Systems – pipes are filled with
pressurized air or nitrogen instead of
water. When a sprinkler head detects heat,
the air pressure drops, allowing water to
flow into the pipes and out through the
opened sprinkler head.
 Preaction Automatic Sprinkler
Systems – simiilar to a dry pipe system,
but water is held back by an electronically
operated valve. When a fire is detected,
the valve opens, releasing water into the
pipes, and only sprinkler heads affected by
the heat open to discharge water.
 Deluge Automatic Sprinkler Systems
– all sprinkler heads are open, and the
system is activated by a specialized
detection system. When triggered, the
entire system releases water
simultaneously, covering the entire area.
This system is suitable for high-hazard
areas like chemical storage.
21-15. What are the four types of alternative
fire suppression systems and how do they
function?
 Water mist automatic sprinkler
systems – these systems discharge
microscopic water droplets that evaporate
quickly, reducing heat and displacing
oxygen around the fire.
 Clean agent gas fire suppression
systems – These systems use inert gases
or chemical agents to extinguish fires by
reducing the heat or interrupting the
chemical reaction.
 Carbon dioxide fire suppression
systems discharge a CO2 gas that
extinguishes fire by displacing oxygen or
reducing the oxygen concentration in the
air to a level where combustion can't
occur.
 Foam fire suppression systems
discharge a high volume of gas-filled
bubbles that rapidly fill a space,
suppressing the fire by cooling,
 smothering, and separating the fuel from
the oxygen.
21-16. What are the four classes of fire
extinguishers and where are they used?
 Class A extinguishers – are suitable for
use on fires in ordinary combustibles such
as wood, paper, rubber, trash, and many
plastics, where a quenching-cooling effect
is required.
 Class B extinguishers – are suitable for
use on fires in flammable liquids, gases,
and greases, where an oxygen-exclusion
or flame-interruption effect is essential.
 Class C extinguishers – are suitable for
use on fires involving energized electrical
equipment and wiring where the dielectric
conductivity of the extinguishing agent is
of importance.
 Class D extinguishers – are suitable for
use on fires in combustible metals such as
magnesium, titanium, zirconium, sodium,
and potassium.
21-17. What is a smoke control system and
why is it needed?
 A smoke control system is an
engineered system that uses mechanical
fans to produce airflows and pressure
differences across smoke barriers to limit
and direct smoke movement.
 It is needed because it manages and
directs smoke to protect building
occupants and property.
21-18. What is a smoke detector?
Smoke detector is a sensing device that
identifies products of combustion in air.
21-19. What is a heat detector?
Heat detectors are a sensing device that
recognizes a high temperature or a rapid
increase in temperature.
21-20. Describe the types of heat and smoke
detectors.
 Fixed-temperature heat detectors
signal an alarm after the temperature at
the detector reaches a set value.
 Rate-of-rise heat detectors signal an
alarm when the temperature at the
detector increases at a rate exceeding a
preset value.
 Flame detectors optically sense high
levels of either infrared radiation or
ultraviolet radiation.
 Ionization smoke detectors are
designed with a sensing chamber that has
a radioactive element.
 Photoelectric smoke detectors use a
light scattering or light obscuration
principle.
 Air-sampling smoke detectors use a
similar approach to light obscuration
detectors, however, a laser or xenon tube
is typically used as a light source.
21-21. Describe a fire alarm control system.
A fire alarm control system is the central
hub that oversees and manages the various
components of a fire alarm system or network
in schools, municipal buildings, nursing homes,
hospitals, apartment buildings, warehouses,
office buildings, retail malls, and department
stores.
21-22. Why has building security become
increasingly important?
Several factors contribute to the increasing
importance of building security such as crimes
against businesses and increasing threats of
violence, terrorist attacks, bombings, and
shootouts.
21-23. Identify and describe things that can be
implemented in building design that improve
security.
All aspects of the design should be considered
including access routes, landscaping, signage,
lighting, materials, colors, entryways, and
interior layouts. Designers of a building should
pay particular attention to the locations of
doors, windows, loading docks, and money-
handling rooms. This will not only simplify the
ensuing security system design but also
decrease security costs and reduce the
potential for crimes to occur in the building.
21-24. What types of electronic devices are
used to provide
building security?
These devices are the alarm contacts,
surveillance cameras, intrusion detection
system such as infrared motion detector,
glass break detector, floor mat detector.
Smart locks and access control system
can also be used.
21-29. What are the roles of the members of
the incident response team?
An incident response team with medical,
firefighting, and/or hazardous material
handling personnel tend to the incident and
report back to the emergency operations
center, where the emergency management
team takes further action, if necessary.

21-30. What are the roles of the members of

21-25. What types of electronic access control
devices are
used to provide building security?
Control devices for building security includes
coded electronic card keys, door mounted
keypad, photo identification, and
biometric identification. These devices help
regulate and monitor access to different areas
within a building.
the building evacuation team?
Evacuation team assist in emergency
evacuations. Members of the team which
includes floor monitors and stairway monitors
act in response to the specific emergency and
coordinate safe evacuation.

21-26. What is a building emergency action

(BEA) plan?
A building emergency action (BEA) plan
provides for immediate, positive, and orderly
action to safeguard life and property in the
event of any emergency or disaster (except
enemy attack).

21-27. What is a building evacuation plan?

A building evacuation plan is a central part
of the building emergency action (BEA) plan
that ensures orderly evacuation of building
occupants by establishing emergency escape
procedures and escape route assignments.

21-28. What are the roles of the members of

the emergency management team?
They address ongoing emergency planning
and coordination efforts, including issues
regarding road closings, access to buildings,
emergency evacuation procedures, providing
updated security information to employees,
and so forth.