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How Fire Extinguishers Work

By: Tom Harris
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While there's a good chance your fire extinguisher will sit on the wall for years, collecting dust, it could
end up saving your property and even your life. JEFFREY COOLIDGE / GETTY IMAGES
A fire extinguisher is an absolute necessity in any home or office. While there's a good chance
that the extinguisher will sit on the wall for years, collecting dust, it could end up saving your
property and even your life.
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In this article, we'll see exactly what fire extinguishers do and how they do it. We'll also find out
what causes fire in the first place, learn the correct way to use an extinguisher and see what sort
of fire suppressant works best on different types of fires.
Fire is the result of a chemical combustion reaction, typically a reaction between oxygen in the
atmosphere and some sort of fuel (wood or gasoline, for example). Of course, wood and gasoline
don't spontaneously catch on fire just because they're surrounded by oxygen. For the combustion
reaction to take place, the fuel has to be heated to its ignition temperature.
Fire is the result of a chemical combustion reaction, typically a reaction between oxygen in the
atmosphere and some sort of fuel (wood or gasoline, for example). Of course, wood and gasoline
don't spontaneously catch on fire just because they're surrounded by oxygen. For the combustion
reaction to take place, the fuel has to be heated to its ignition temperature.
Here's the sequence of events in a typical wood fire:
 Something heats the wood to very high temperatures. This could be any number of things --
focused light, friction, something else that is already burning.
 When the wood reaches about 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260 degrees Celsius), the heat
decomposes some of the cellulose material that makes up the wood.
 Decomposed material is released as volatile gases, typically a compound of hydrogen, carbon and
oxygen.
 When the gas is hot enough, the compound molecules break apart, and the atoms recombine with
the oxygen to form water, carbon dioxide and other products.
 The gases, which rise through the air, make up the flame. Carbon atoms rising in the flame emit
light as they heat up. (Check out How Light Bulbs Work to find out why heated objects emit
light.)
 The heat of the flame keeps the fuel at the ignition temperature, so it continues to burn as long as
there is fuel and oxygen.
As you can see, there are three essential elements involved in this process:
 Extreme heat
 Oxygen (or similar gas)
 Fuel
Fire extinguishers are designed to remove at least one of these elements so that a fire will die out.
There are several different ways of doing this, as we'll see in the next section.
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Inside an Extinguisher
Most dry-chemical fire extinguishers have a built-in pressure gauge. If the gauge indicator is
pointing to "recharge," the pressure in the extinguisher may be too low to expel the contents.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends having dry extinguishers inspected every six
years, even if the gauge indicates correct pressure.
In the last section, we saw that there are three essential elements involved in producing fire
-- heat, oxygen and fuel. To put a fire out, you need to effectively remove one of these elements.
 The best way to remove heat is to dump water on the fire. This cools the fuel to below the
ignition point, interrupting the combustion cycle.
 To remove oxygen, you can smother the fire so it is not exposed to air. One way to smother a
small fire is to cover it with a heavy blanket. Another way is to dump nonflammable material,
such as sand or baking soda on top of it.
 Removing the fuel is the most difficult approach for most fires. In a house fire, for example, the
house itself is potential fuel. The fuel will only be removed once the fire has burned all of it up.
Fire extinguishers are sturdy metal cylinders filled with water or a smothering material. When
you depress a lever at the top of the cylinder, the material is expelled by high pressure, similar to
the way material is forced out of an aerosol can.
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In this extinguisher, a plastic siphon tube leads from the bottom of the fire-suppressant reservoir
to the top of the extinguisher. A spring-mounted valve blocks the passageway from the siphon to
the nozzle. At the top of the cylinder, there is a smaller cylinder filled with a compressed gas --
liquid carbon dioxide, for example. A release valve keeps the compressed gas from escaping.
To use the extinguisher, you pull out the safety pin and depress the operating lever. The lever
pushes on an actuating rod, which presses the spring-mounted valve down to open up the passage
to the nozzle. The bottom of the actuating rod has a sharp point, which pierces the gas cylinder
release valve.
The metal safety pin prevents the operating leverfrom closing accidentally.
The operating lever pushes down on an actuating rod(the blue piece).
The compressed gas escapes, applying downward pressure on the fire-suppressant material. This
drives the material up the siphon and out the nozzle with considerable force. The proper way to
use the extinguisher is to aim it directly at the fuel, rather than the flames themselves, and move
the stream with a sweeping motion.
In the next section, we'll look at the major types of extinguishers.
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Types of Extinguishers
Water is the most familiar extinguishing material, and it is one of the most effective. But it can
be dangerous in the wrong situation. A water extinguisher can put out things like burning wood,
paper or cardboard, but it does not work well on electrical fires or fires
involving inflammable liquids. In an electrical fire, the water may conduct the current, which can
electrocute you. Water will only spread out an inflammable liquid, which will most likely make
the fire worse.
One popular extinguisher material is pure carbon dioxide. In a carbon dioxide extinguisher, the
carbon dioxide is kept in pressurized liquid form in the cylinder. When the container is opened,
the carbon dioxide expands to form a gas in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide gas is heavier than
oxygen, so it displaces the oxygen surrounding the burning fuel. This sort of fire extinguisher is
common in restaurants because it won't contaminate the cooking equipment or food.
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The most popular extinguisher material is dry chemical foam or powder, typically made of
sodium bicarbonate (normal baking soda), potassium bicarbonate (nearly identical to baking
soda), or monoammonium phosphate. Baking soda starts to decompose at only 158 degrees
Fahrenheit (70 degrees Celsius), and when it decomposes, it releases carbon dioxide. The
carbon dioxide, along with the insulation of the foam, works to smother the fire.
Most fire extinguishers contain a fairly small amount of fire-suppressant material -- you can use
it all up in a matter of seconds. For this reason, extinguishers are only effective on relatively
small, contained fires. To put out a larger fire, you need much bigger equipment -- a fire engine,
for example -- and the professionals who know how to use it. But for the dangerous flames that
can pop up in your house, a fire extinguisher is an invaluable lifesaver.
To learn more about fire extinguishers and other fire-fighting equipment, check out the links on
the next page.
Extinguisher Ratings
Fire extinguishers are rated by the type of fire they can put out.
Class A extinguishers can put out fires from "ordinary combustibles" such as wood, plastic or
paper. Class B can put out burning liquids such as gasoline or grease. Class C can put out
electrical fires. Extinguishers marked A, B and C can put out all types. Class D extinguishers,
designed to put out burning metal, are rare. Check the letters and pictures on your extinguisher to
find out what it can handle.
READ MORE
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Lots More Information

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How Fire Engines Work

By: Kevin Bonsor
We see fire engines all the time, but have you ever stopped to think about all of the things that
these machines do? Fire engines are amazing pieces of equipment that allow firefighters to
perform their jobs and get to fire scenes quickly. The important thing to know about a fire engine
is that it is a combination of a personnel carrier, tool box and water tanker. All three
components are essential to fighting fires.
With different fire departments having varying needs, fire engines come in all shapes, sizes and
colors. In this article, we will take a close look at an Emergency One (E-One) pumper/tanker
engine and a Pierce ladder truck. We'll also open up all the doors and compartments on these
trucks and see what's inside!
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Contents
1. Pump It Up
2. Hose It Down
3. Going Up!
4. The Ultimate Mobile Toolbox
5. Grab a Seat
Pump It Up
The large black pipes on the side of the engine are the hard suction lines. The walls of these pipes
are rigid so that the suction of the pump does not collapse them.
The primary function of any pumper/tanker fire engine is to carry water in a water tank or suck
water in from an outside source, such as a fire hydrant, drop tank, swimming pool or lake.
On this pumper/tanker fire engine, the primary water tank is inside the vehicle, it holds 1,000
gallons (3,785 liters) of water and it runs down the center in the rear of the truck. A drop tank is
like a big aboveground pool that can hold about 2,000 gallons of water. A 6-inch diameter, hard
suction line is used to suck water out of the drop tank or other exterior water source.
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Water stored in the engine's tank or sucked through an outside source is then discharged through
water lines, or hoses. These lines are connected at points around the truck. We'll look at all the
different lines later.
The heart of the pump/tanker is the impeller water pump. On this particular fire engine, the
pump is located just behind the jumpseat area, where the firefighters sit. An impeller is a rotor-
like device that has curved blades. Driven by its own diesel engine, the impeller spins inside the
pump at a high rate. When water comes into the pump, it hits the inner part of the impeller and is
slung outward. Water pressure is created by centrifugal force from the spinning action of the
impeller. A valve opens to allow water to hit the center of the rotating impeller. This action is
described as entering the eye of the impeller, according to Capt. David Price of the Bayleaf
Volunteer Fire Department in North Carolina.
The pump panel is used to control which hoses have water flowing through them at any given time.
You control the hoses using the truck's pump panel on top of the fire engine. The pump panel is
a series of levers and switches that controls how much water is flowing and which lines are being
discharged. When arriving at a fire scene, the driver will jump out and climb to the top of the
truck to begin pump operation. An indicator -- a series of red lights on the pump panel -- lets the
operator know how much water is left in the tank.
The first thing the pump operator is going to do is make sure that the valve between the tank and
pump is open. An electric switch on the right side of the pump will open that valve, and ensure
that water is flowing into the pump. Next, the operator will check to see which lines have been
pulled off the fire engine by the firefighters, and the operator will discharge those lines.
"Discharge" means that water is allowed to flow out of the pump and into the hose. The lines are
color-coded to make it easy for the operator to know which lines to discharge. The color of the
line corresponds to a plate below each lever on the pump panel.
Most of the discharging is controlled by a built-in electronic device, called a mastermind. It

automatically controls the pump, and runs the pressure up or down. It also has a built-in relief
valve, so that if one person suddenly cuts off a line, the pressure from that line doesn't
automatically get fed into another line.
This truck also has a foam system, and carries about 20 gallons (76 L) of foam. The foam tank is
embedded in the main water tank. Pumper/tankers carry different types of foam. This particular
truck carries Class A foam, which can be used to saturate materials inside a structure to keep
those materials from re-igniting. Class B foam is used to fight car fires and other fires where
flammable liquids might be present.
In the next section, you'll learn more about the various hoses on the fire engine.
Priming
Before water can be sucked in from exterior sources, the line has to be primed. Priming the hard
suction line involves pumping all of the air out of it. To prime the pump, the operator flips an
electronic switch on the pump panel.
Hose It Down
The deluge gun can discharge 1,000 gallons of water per minute.
There are many types of hoses on the fire engine, and each has its own specific role in putting
out a blaze. Hoses, also called lines, will put out different amounts of water depending on the
hose length, diameter and the amount of pressure in the pump.
When responding to a house fire, the firefighters will immediately pull off the crosslay hoses.
These lines are located directly below the pump panel. They lay out in the open and are light, so
they are easy to get off the fire engine for attacking a fire. Crosslays are 200 feet (61 m) long,
have a diameter of 1.5 inches and can gush water at 95 gallons (360 L) per minute. For smaller
fires, such as small wood fires or chimney fires, the small booster line is adequate. A booster
line is the smallest hose on the truck and has a diameter of about 1 inch.
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Located directly above the pump panel is the deluge gun, also called a deck gun or master
stream. Just by looking at it, you know why this water cannon carries those names. The deluge
gun is used to put a lot of water on large fires. It can put out in excess of 1,000 gallons per
minute.
"If we get a big fire, like a house fire that we can't control with handlines, we can darken it down
with that," Doug Mchose, of the Bayleaf Volunteer Fire Department, said. "We can use that on it
for a couple of minutes to knock it down to where we can get in there."
The truck also has at least three lines called preconnects. These lines are preconnected to the
truck in order to save time at the fire scene. There's one preconnect on the driver's side, one on
the back and one on the captain's side of the truck. These lines are between 1.5 and 2.5 inches in
diameter, and can put out 250 gallons (946 liters) per minute.
Side preconnect
A 5-inch-diameter hose is stored on top of the truck. There is a total of 1,000 feet (305 m) of this
line, but it is stored in 100-foot sections. This is the line that the firefighters will hook up to fire
hydrants. There's also another 2.5-inch line stored on top of the truck.
The wide yellow hose in back carries water from the hydrant to the fire engine.
In one of the compartments on the captain's side of the truck, there are extra sections of hose.
There are two extra sections of the 5-inch hose: a 25-foot and a 50-foot section. These two
sections are called curb jumpers, because they typically lay on the curb. These sections give
firefighters just a little bit more line to connect to a fire hydrant without having to get another
100-foot section down.
Curb jumpers and hose packs
Also stored in this compartment is a hose pack. A hose pack is a small, bundled hose that can be
taken to the higher levels of a building. It is banded to make it easier to carry up a ladder. A
firefighter can just throw it over his or her shoulder and take it up and through a window.
Usually, a hose pack is used if the other lines can't reach inside. This hoseline will connect to the
hose that runs up the ladder of the ladder truck, which you will learn more about in the next
section.
Going Up!
When a fire breaks out in a multi-story building, a ladder truck is used to get firefighters to the
higher floors.
The ladder on the truck is raised and lowered using a hydraulic piston rod. As hydraulic fluid
enters this piston rod through one of two hoses, the pressure of the fluid will either cause the rod
to extend or retract. If the piston rod extends, the ladder will go up. If it retracts, the ladder will
come down.
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Another set of hydraulic hoses allow the sections of the ladder to telescope up and down. A
hydraulic motor is used to rotate the gear that moves the ladder from left to right. While the
ladder is in use, four outriggers are extended to stabilize the truck.
One of the outriggers
On this 105-foot (32-m) ladder truck built by Pierce, the ladder also has a 3-inch pipe that runs
the length of the ladder. This is an extra water line that is sometimes used to spray water on fires
that are in a high spot, or to spray water down on a fire. This pipe can spray out 1,000 gallons per
minute.
For large fires, or fires in high locations, the ladder truck has a line that can be raised 150 feet to
attack a fire from above.
The ladder is controlled by a series of joysticks at the base of the ladder. The outriggers are
controlled in the back of the truck. Each outrigger has four control levers: two for extending the
beam out and two for lowering the leg to the ground. Metal pads are placed under the legs to
prevent the force of the truck from cracking asphalt surfaces.
The Ultimate Mobile Toolbox
A fire engine carries dozens of tools and supplies in its compartments, including forceful-entry
tools, nozzles and hydrant connection adapters.
Firefighters have to take dozens of tools and other equipment when responding to a fire or
medical call. All of this equipment is stored in several compartments that line the sides and back
of the fire engine.
Let's open up each compartment and see what's inside.
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Here is a list of some of the tools found on a fire engine:
 Barrel strainer - This is an attachment put on a hard suction hose when sucking water out of a
lake or pond. This tool keeps debris out of the water supply.
 Nozzles - Different nozzles are needed for different situations. Fog nozzles put out more of a
strong mist of water. Other nozzles direct water in a solid stream. There's also a piercing
nozzle that can be used to punch through walls and spray areas that can't be reached otherwise.
 Foam inductor - This is a special nozzle used to mix water and foam.
 Haligan tool - This tool looks similar to a crowbar.
 Sheet rock puller - This tool is used to peel back the sheet rock on walls so that water can be
sprayed inside the wall.
 Pike poles - These spear-like tools are about 10 to 12 feet long and are thrust into the ceiling to
pull sheet rock down.
A pike pole is one of the forceful-entry tools used by firefighters.
 EMS equipment - Most fire engines carry a defibrillator, an emergency oxygen tank and
a trauma jump kit, which includes all of the first aid equipment needed for emergencies.
 Gated Y - This special hose adapter can be attached to a line to allow two smaller lines to run off
of the same water source.
 Spanner wrenches - These unique tools are used to tighten the lines to the fire engine or to a
hydrant.
Here you can see spanner wrenches and a hydrant wrench.
 Hydrant wrench - This is the wrench used to turn the hydrant on.
 Jaws of Life - This extrication equipment is used to free victims from car or building accidents.
Read How the 'Jaws of Life' Work to learn more about these hydraulic machines.
 Exhaust fan - This fan is placed in the doorway to suck smoke out of the house. Fire engines
may also carry a positive-pressure exhaust fan, which blows air through the house and out the
other side.
 Salvage covers - These are used for covering furniture on a lower floor while firefighters attack a
fire on a floor above.
In addition, fire engines also carry bolt cutters, a sledge hammer, a fire extinguisher, a water
cooler, a 24-foot (7-m) extension ladder and a 16-foot (5-m) roof ladder. Some trucks may also
carry chain saws, rappelling rope and backboards, which are used to transport injured people.
Fire engines used for rescue will often have the "Jaws of Life" onboard.
As you can see, there are a lot of tools and devices stored on a fire engine, and the design of the
fire engine maximizes all possible storage space.
Grab a Seat
Driver's seat
The unique design of a fire engine allows it to carry a lot of crew to the fire scene. Up to eight
firefighters, including the driver and the captain, can fit onto this E-One fire engine. The cabin of
the fire engine is divided into two sections: the front seat, where the driver and captain sit, and
the jumpseat area, where the firefighters sit.
Jumpseat
As mentioned before, the driver is responsible for controlling the pump panel. For this reason,
there are some basic controls on the driver's dashboard that are related to that task. Two red
switches near his left hand operate a generator and jet dump. A jet dump essentially discharges
all of the water in the tank into a drop tank through a large discharge outlet in the back.
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The driver has another switch within reach that activates the automatic tire chains, which are
sometimes needed during the winter to drive through ice and snow. Automatic tire chains save
the time and hassle of jacking the truck up and putting tire chains on manually. Click here to
learn more about automatic tire chains.
The captain sits in the passenger seat next to the driver in the front section of the cab. The front
section of the cab has a firecom, which are radio headsets that allow the captain and driver to
communicate with the firefighters sitting in the jumpseat area. The captain will often give
instructions to the firefighters on the way to the fire scene.
The jumpseat area is like the backseat of your car. This is the area where four to six firefighters
sit on the way to the fire. There is one row of four seats that sit back-to-back with the captain and
driver. There are also two fold-down seats directly across from the row of four seats. In between
the fold-down seats, there several yellow pouches that contain the firefighters' masks.
Air packs are located in the back of the four main seats. By already having the air packs on the
truck, all the firefighters have to do is put them on their shoulders. Each air pack has 30 minutes
of air.
For more information on fire engines, firefighters and related topics, check out the links on the
next page.
 How Fire Works

 How Water Towers Work
 How the 'Jaws of Life' Work
 How do smoke detectors intercommunicate?
 How do multi-class dry chemical fire extinguishers work?
More Great Links
 Fire Engine Tour City of Davis, CA Fire Department

 American LaFrance (manufacturer)
 E-One (manufacturer)
 Pierce Manufacturing
 National Fire and Rescue Magazine
 Boulder Rural Fire Department (includes photos)
 National Fire Protection Association
 FireHydrant.org
How Firewalking Works

By: Marshall Brain | Updated: Feb 22, 2021
Firewalking barefoot over hot coals has been featured in movies and TV reality shows. See more bodily
feats pictures.
2008 HOWSTUFFWORKS
I would like for you to imagine the following situation: You get a call one day offering you the
chance to win a million bucks. It's a new reality show that takes ordinary people and asks them to
do extraordinary things. All that you have to do to win $1 million is a little firewalking -- simply
saunter across a bed of burning coals on live TV.
Bodily Feats Pictures
Would you do it? Firewalking is one of those strange things that lots of us wonder about --
people seem to be able to do it without getting burned. But could just anybody do it? Is there
some kind of gimmick that makes firewalking possible?
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If you ever watch a firewalking event on TV or in a movie, you know that what you always see
is a large, glowing bed of burning coals. The bed may be 10 feet long or so. And the glowing
coals are real. People actually do walk across the red coals in bare feet. The firewalker makes his
way across the coals as though by magic. How is this possible, and can any other person do it
just as easily?
In this article, you will learn exactly how "firewalkers" walk across a bed of glowing coals
without getting burned!
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Firewalking Events
The fire is lit long before the firewalking starts.

PHOTO COURTESY THE FLORIDA PAGAN GATHERING
First of all, there is no gimmick to firewalking. It is not like a firewalker soaks his feet in water
before going across the coals. And it is not like some extreme sweat reaction happens and his
feet are suddenly soaked in sweat. His bare feet really do touch the red-hot coals.
What makes this possible is a combination of factors that play on certain qualities of the coals
themselves...
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Think about this. Let's say you took a 10-foot long iron plate and heated it up red-hot with blow
torches. Now you walk across that. What would happen?
Walking across a red-hot metal plate would be insane. Think about a hamburger when it hits a
hot iron skillet. Bare feet on red-hot metal would give you third-degree burns in milliseconds.
There are a couple of things to notice about any firewalking event:
 Firewalkers are not actually firewalkers. They are really coalwalkers. The fire is lit well ahead of
time to allow the wood to burn down to non-flaming coals.
 The event is always held at night. If it were done during daylight, the bed of coals would look
instead like a bed of ashes. There is always a layer of ash covering the coals. By doing it at night,
the glowing red light is still visible through this layer of ash. Photo courtesy The Florida Pagan
Gathering The hot coals are covered with a layer of ash.
 The firewalker never dawdles. Now, no self-respecting firewalker would run across the coals --
that would be undignified. But firewalkers certainly are walking briskly. You never see
firewalkers standing on the coals.
So what is going on here? Firewalking depends on a combination of poor

conduction, insulation and a short time span.
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Firewalking and Science
PHOTO COURTESY THE FLORIDA PAGAN GATHERING

Why is it possible for bare feet to touch red-hot coals without getting burned? The coals start out
as pieces of wood. The wood consists of lots of carbon, some "volatile organic molecules," and
water.
A volatile organic molecule is a carbon-based molecule that evaporates when you heat
it. Gasoline is a volatile organic chemical. We see these volatile organic molecules from wood
as smoke rising from the fire. The heat of the fire evaporates all the volatile organics, as well as
all the water. Because they've been burning for a while before the stunt, the coals have burned
down to nearly pure carbon.
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If you were to pick up one of these pure-carbon coals, you would notice that it is extremely light.
Carbon is a lightweight element -- that's why carbon-fiber bike frames and tennis rackets don't
weigh very much. A coal is mostly lightweight carbon atoms and air spaces (it does contain a
few other elements, like potassium and calcium -- that's what left behind in the ash).
This lightweight carbon structure is a poor conductor of heat. It takes a relatively long time for
heat to transfer from the glowing coal to your skin. If the coal were made of red-hot metal, heat
transfer through conduction would be almost instantaneous -- you would get a severe burn.
Now, add to that the fact that ash is a very good insulator. People used to use ash to insulate ice
boxes and such. The red-hot coals covered with ash transfer their heat even more slowly because
the ash acts as a layer of insulation.
Then there is the short time span. Heat transfer from a red-hot coal is slow, but it still happens.
If you were to stand still on the coals for several seconds, you would definitely get a burn. By
walking briskly, you limit your contact with individual coals to a very short time span. You also
get across the bed of coals very quickly, and that limits your total amount of coal time. So, your
foot never gets hot enough to burn.
That's the whole story! For more information on firewalking and related topics, check out the
links on the next page.
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Originally Published: Aug 28, 2004

 How Fire Breathing Works

 How Fire Works
 How Grills Work
 How Fire Extinguishers Work
 How ESP Works
 How Urban Legends Work
More Great Links
 Firewalking Myth vs Physics

 National Geographic: Fire Walking
 BBC: Firewalking - learn to unlearn
 FIREWALKING: A Theory Based on Biofeedback and Variable Set Points
Why would you throw a fire extinguisher?

By: Nicholas Gerbis
That student protester is actually throwing a regular fire extinguisher. That's not quite the same thing as
one that's designed to be lobbed at a fire.
© STRINGER/CHILE/REUTERS/CORBIS
Judging from some ads on late-night TV, you would think that the average human being is
incapable of peeling fruit, making salad or vacuuming a floor without hilarious calamity ensuing.
Which might make you wonder: How can we possibly be trusted with putting out a fire?
In the midst of an emergency is a lousy time to realize that fire extinguishers are more than a
point-and-shoot proposition. You need to properly store, charge and maintain them, understand
how to activate and use them, and choose the right one for a given fire. It's a lot to think about in
the, ahem, heat of the moment, which is why it's surprising that laws mandating that workplaces
and homes stock extinguishers do not always require training in their proper maintenance and
use.
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It's a complex problem, and one that firefighters have grappled with since Ctesibius of
Alexandria devised the first basic hand pump for directing water at a fire around 200 B.C.E.
[source: Encyclopaedia Britannica]. Over time, it became clear that we needed more portable
extinguishers and a wider array of snuffing substances to tackle different fuels and conditions:
Water wouldn't work in grease fires or electrical environments, and fighting raging infernos
required different skills and tactics than dousing a smoldering trash fire. In
short, firefighting grew from an avocation to a science, and one of its laws stated that hesitation
and bad decisions do more harm than good.
Clearly, firefighting shouldn't be left to the amateurs unless necessary and, in such cases, the
devices they use should be as simple as possible.
With this in mind, a few companies have rekindled the centuries-old idea of the fire grenade,
made it simple, nontoxic and eco-friendly, and dubbed it the throwable fire extinguisher. It
comes in two basic forms: a breakable ampul about the size of a large shampoo bottle and a heat-
activated ball roughly the size of a cantaloupe. Both are lightweight enough for even children,
the elderly and the differently abled to throw or roll them.
Whereas throwable ampuls shatter and react with fire to generate smothering gases and foam,
fire extinguishing balls go boom and scatter dry chemicals. As we'll shortly see, although they
cover much of the same territory, their approaches differ quite a bit.
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The Geometry of Fire
To grasp the practicality of throwable fire extinguishers, it helps to consider what goes into
fighting a fire.
At its most basic, fire is just a fast, hot form of oxidation, the same basic chemical reaction that
rusts old bumpers and turns cut fruit brown. It entails four elements -- fuel, heat, oxygen and an
uninhibited chemical reaction -- that together form what firefighters call the fire tetrahedron:
Heat something to its ignition temperature in an oxygen environment, and you get fire, which
throws off more heat as it burns, which then sets new and interesting stuff ablaze or feeds back
into the system and keeps the reaction rolling [source: NFPA].
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At its core, firefighting means playing Yoko Ono to this Fab Four of Fire, but just what that
means varies from fire to fire and can require great expertise to figure out. One key element in
that calculation, so basic that it defines how the United States and other countries classify fires,
involves the fuel's composition [sources: NFPA; OSHA]:
 Class A: familiar combustibles, such as wood, cloth, paper, rubber and many plastics
 Class B: flammable liquids (which burn at room temperature) and combustible liquids (which are
defined as having a flash point at or above 100 F, or 37.8 C), including petroleum greases, oils,
solvents, lacquers, alcohols and flammable gases
 Class C: Class A or B fuels, combined with the tangy zip of energized electrical equipment
 Class D: combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, zirconium, sodium, lithium and
potassium (some of which tend to crop up in car fires)
 Class K: cooktop and industrial fryer fires composed of the delicious-but-deadly things we cook
food in, such as vegetable oil, animal oils and fats
In truth, fighting any but the most basic fires takes years of training and experience in how fire
spreads, affects structures, builds pressure in tanks, or changes moods in an instant. For instance,
water, which cools fire and creates steam to crowd out oxygen, works well on Class A fires but
makes grease fires and Class Cs more hazardous. Fighting Class B fires typically means
establishing a smothering foam barrier, while Class D materials, which can churn out their own
oxygen and hydrogen while burning, require sand or salt-based powders to smother (a salt is a
compound formed from an acid-base reaction in which the acid's hydrogen is replaced by a metal
or other positive ion) [sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica; NFPA].
Throwable fire extinguisher and balls don't avoid this problem; you still need to know the limited
subset of fires covered by a given product. But, as we'll see in the next section, they do overcome
other limitations of canister extinguishers, including bulk, upkeep and complexity of use.
Bells and Whistles
The news often reports fires in terms of alarms, as in a "three-alarm fire," but what does that
actually mean?
As you've likely guessed, the higher the number, the worse the fire or, more accurately, the larger
the response. Although cities vary with regard to lingo, most fire departments use a series of
codes, each of which corresponds to a certain number of vehicles and/or personnel.
The phrase possibly originated during the telegraph era, when firefighters rang coded messages
to stations via special call boxes [source: Engber].
READ MORE
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Great Balls (and Bottles) of Firefighting
We began tossing around throwable fire extinguishers, then called fire grenades, in the late 19th
century, chiefly during the period from 1870-1910. Most consisted of glass bulbs that
homeowners could chuck into a fire or mount in metal brackets (a fire's heat would melt the
rack's solder, causing the grenade to smash on the floor). Fire grenades usually contained carbon
tetrachloride, which dilutes flammable liquid fuels and forms a heavy gas blanket to helps block
out oxygen. However, because carbon tetrachloride is poisonous and can produce the toxic
chemical compound phosgene during a fire, such devices fell out of favor as fire extinguishers
improved [sources: Burke; The Gas Age; Kovel and Kovel].
But some ideas die hard. Today, a Thailand company produces the Elide Fire Extinguishing Ball,
a 5.8-inch (14.7-centimeter), 3.3-pound (1.5-kilogram) sphere that customers throw or roll into
fire. After 3-10 seconds of exposure to flame, the ball explodes loudly (120 decibels) and
scatters extinguishing agents, including FUREX 770, a dry chemical containing mono
ammonium phosphate. The ball can put out small Class A and some small Class B fires over an
86-108 square-foot (8-10 square-meter) indoor area, and its loud bang can serve as an alarm
[sources: Caldic Deutschland; Elide; YG Yangın Güvenliği].
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Malaysia's Linnovate Technology offers the SOTERIA Throwable Fire Extinguisher, a 1.3-
pound (600-gram) plastic resin bottle that withstands everyday pressures but shatters when
dropped from 3 feet (1 meter), releasing organic and inorganic salts. These react with fire to
generate carbon dioxide and ammonia gas, which disperse and extinguish the fire, as well as
foam, which suffocates the fuel. It retails for $69.99 (at the time of publication) and douses Class
A and B fires [sources: Lim; Linnovate].
Bonex, a Malaysian company headquartered in Japan, divides its throwable products according
to fire fuel type. Its $85 SAT119 (named for the Japanese fire rescue number) resembles
SOTERIA in form but handles only Class A fires. According to one store, it contains 16.9 fluid
ounces (500 milliliters) of ammonium phosphate dibasic (a soluble ammonium phosphate salt
used as an environmentally friendly flame retardant), and ammonium bicarbonate (a white
powder found in baking powders and fire extinguishers). When exposed to fire, it emits carbon
dioxide and ammonia gas. Bonex also makes FR911 FLAMEOUT for handling Class A, B and
C fires [sources: Bonex; Japan Trend Shop; NJDHSS; Santa Cruz Biotechnology].
All three products contain nontoxic, eco-friendly chemicals and boast a five-year shelf life,
according to manufacturers [sources: Bonex; Elide]. Regarding their legality in the Unites States,
Linnovate CEO Leon Lim said, "SOTERIA Throwable has been exported to many countries and
has always been classified as a non-dangerous good."
Early Fire Extinguishers
In the early 1700s, English chemists Ambrose Godfrey and French C. Hopffer independently
developed devices that spread fire-suppressing solutions via explosion, and in 1817, English
inventor Capt. George Manby created the forerunner of the modern hand-held fire extinguisher.
Nevertheless, for many years the most common firefighting device in homes and businesses
continued to be a bucket [sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica; Kovel and Kovel].
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Author's Note: How do throwable fire extinguishers work?
I don't think I'm alone in feeling a certain anxiety when it comes to handling a fire extinguisher
in an emergency, so I can definitely see the appeal of making the process as simple as possible.
Of course, you still need to know what you're doing, which involves a bit of reading up but, hey,
you read HowStuffWorks, right? You like learning how, um, stuff works.
One of the keys to fighting fires safely is to understand that you only have a small window of
time in which to bring some sort of extinguishing device to bear. After that, matters are probably
going to get far enough out of hand that you should really just get out and call 911. So, if
grabbing a bottle or ball is faster than the fire extinguisher mantra of "Pull, Aim, Squeeze and
Sweep," then maybe there's something to popping for a throwable or two.
Me, I'm going to wait until the fire authorities and chemists weigh in on them (the ones I
contacted for this article either did not get back to me or declined to comment).
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Sources
How do dry chemical fire extinguishers work?
Dry chemical fire extinguishers are the most common home extinguishers.
If you ask any firefighter what it takes to create a fire, you will learn that you have to have three
things:
1. A fuel - You need some sort of combustible solid, liquid or gas

2. Oxygen to react with the fuel
3. Heat - There must be enough heat to get the fuel above its flash point. If there is paper on your
desk right now, it is surrounded by oxygen, but it does not burn unless you get the paper hot
enough.
If you want to put out a fire, you need to remove one of the three elements. When you watch
firefighters battling a forest fire, they generally try to remove fuel or heat. Either they pour water
on the fire to reduce the temperature, or they try to bulldoze strips of bare earth to eliminate the
fuel.
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A carbon-dioxide fire extinguisher works by eliminating oxygen and replacing it with carbon
dioxide. You could do the same thing with just about any non-oxidizing gas (nitrogen, for
example), but carbon dioxide is inexpensive and easy to store.
Another way to cut off oxygen is to throw a blanket over the fire. Covering the fire with dirt or
sand does the same thing. You might have heard that you can put out a kitchen fire by throwing
baking soda or salt on the fire. Throwing sand would do the same thing, but most people have
more salt in their kitchens than they have sand.
Dry chemical fire extinguishers are by far the most common fire extinguishers in the home.
They can handle all three types of fires you would find in a kitchen or workshop: combustible
solids like wood or paper, combustible liquids like gasoline or grease, and electrical fires. The
idea behind a dry chemical fire extinguisher is to blanket the fuel with an inert solid (similar to
dirt or sand). A dry chemical extinguisher sprays a very fine powder of sodium
bicarbonate (NaHCO3, baking soda), potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3, nearly identical to
baking soda), or monoammonium phosphate ((NH4)H2PO4). These solids coat the
fuel and smother the fire.
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How Fire Works

By: Tom Harris
Fire is one of the most important forces in human history.
JEREMY HOARE/LIFE FILE/GETTY IMAGES
Fire can destroy your house and all of your possessions in less than an hour, and it can reduce an
entire forest to a pile of ash and charred wood. It's also a terrifying weapon, with nearly
unlimited destructive power. Fire kills more people every year than any other force of nature.
But at the same time, fire is extraordinarily helpful. It gave humans the first form of
portable light and heat. It also gave us the ability to cook food, forge metal tools, form pottery,
harden bricks and drive power plants. There are few things that have done as much harm to
humanity as fire, and few things that have done as much good. It is certainly one of the most
important forces in human history. But what is it, exactly?
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The ancient Greeks considered fire one of the major elements in the universe, alongside water,
earth and air. This grouping makes intuitive sense: You can feel fire, just like you can feel earth,
water and air. You can also see it and smell it, and you can move it from place to place.
But fire is really something completely different. Earth, water and air are all forms of matter --
they are made up of millions and millions of atoms collected together. Fire isn't matter at all. It's
a visible, tangible side effect of matter changing form -- it's one part of a chemical reaction.
We’ll look at how that reaction creates heat and light next.
What is Fire?
What exactly are those orange flames?

ROLFO ROLF BRENNER/GETTY IMAGES
Typically, fire comes from a chemical reaction between oxygen in the atmosphere and some sort
of fuel (wood or gasoline, for example). Of course, wood and gasoline don't spontaneously catch
on fire just because they're surrounded by oxygen. For the combustion reaction to happen, you
have to heat the fuel to its ignition temperature.
Here's the sequence of events in a typical wood fire:
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Something heats the wood to a very high temperature. The heat can come from lots of different
things -- a match, focused light, friction, lightning, something else that is already burning...
When the wood reaches about 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius), the heat
decomposes some of the cellulose material that makes up the wood.
Some of the decomposed material is released as volatile gases. We know these gases as smoke.
Smoke is compounds of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. The rest of the material forms char,
which is nearly pure carbon, and ash, which is all of the unburnable minerals in the wood
(calcium, potassium, and so on). The char is what you buy when you buy charcoal. Charcoal is
wood that has been heated to remove nearly all of the volatile gases and leave behind the carbon.
That is why a charcoal fire burns with no smoke.
The actual burning of wood then happens in two separate reactions:

 When the volatile gases are hot enough (about 500 degrees F (260 degrees C) for wood), the
compound molecules break apart, and the atoms recombine with the oxygen to form water,
carbon dioxide and other products. In other words, they burn.
 The carbon in the char combines with oxygen as well, and this is a much slower reaction. That is
why charcoal in a BBQ can stay hot for a long time.
A side effect of these chemical reactions is a lot of heat. The fact that the chemical reactions in a
fire generate a lot of new heat is what sustains the fire. Many fuels burn in one step. Gasoline is a
good example. Heat vaporizes gasoline and it all burns as a volatile gas. There is no char.
Humans have also learned how to meter out the fuel and control a fire. A candle is a tool for
slowly vaporizing and burning wax.
As they heat up, the rising carbon atoms (as well as atoms of other material) emit light. This
"heat produces light" effect is called incandescence, and it is the same kind of thing that creates
light in a light bulb. It is what causes the visible flame. Flame color varies depending on what
you're burning and how hot it is. Color variation within in a flame is caused by uneven
temperature. Typically, the hottest part of a flame -- the base -- glows blue, and the cooler parts
at the top glow orange or yellow.
In addition to emitting light, the rising carbon particles may collect on surrounding surfaces
as soot.
Fire forms a sphere in microgravity.

PHOTO COURTESY NASA
The dangerous thing about the chemical reactions in fire is the fact that they are self-
perpetuating. The heat of the flame itself keeps the fuel at the ignition temperature, so it
continues to burn as long as there is fuel and oxygen around it. The flame heats any surrounding
fuel so it releases gases as well. When the flame ignites the gases, the fire spreads.
On Earth, gravity determines how the flame burns. All the hot gases in the flame are much hotter
(and less dense) than the surrounding air, so they move upward toward lower pressure. This is
why fire typically spreads upward, and it's also why flames are always "pointed" at the top. If
you were to light a fire in a microgravity environment, say onboard the space shuttle, it would
form a sphere!
Fire Variables
In the last section, we saw that fire is the result of a chemical reaction between two gases,
typically oxygen and a fuel gas. The fuel gas is created by heat. In other words, with heat
providing the necessary energy, atoms in one gaseous compound break their bonds with each
other and recombine with available oxygen atoms in the air to form new compounds plus lots
more heat.
Only some compounds will readily break apart and recombine in this way -- the various atoms
have to be attracted to each other in the right manner. For example, when you boil water, it takes
the gaseous form of steam, but this gas doesn't react with oxygen in the air. There isn't a strong
enough attraction between the two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom in a water molecule
and the two oxygen atoms in an oxygen molecule, so the water compound doesn't break apart
and recombine.
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The most flammable compounds contain carbon and hydrogen, which recombine with oxygen
relatively easily to form carbon dioxide, water and other gases.
Different flammable fuels catch fire at different temperatures. It takes a certain amount of heat
energy to change any particular material into a gas, and even more heat energy to trigger the
reaction with oxygen. The necessary heat level varies depending on the nature of the molecules
that make up the fuel. A fuel's piloted ignition temperature is the heat level required to form a
gas that will ignite when exposed to a spark. At the unpiloted ignition temperature, which is
much higher, the fuel ignites without a spark.
The fuel's size also affects how easily it will catch fire. A larger fuel, such as a thick tree, can
absorb a lot of heat, so it takes a lot more energy to raise any particular piece to the ignition
temperature. A toothpick catches fire more easily because it heats up very quickly.
A fuel's heat production depends on how much energy the gases release in the combustion
reaction and how quickly the fuel burns. Both factors largely depend on the fuel's composition.
Some compounds react with oxygen in such a way that there is a lot of "extra heat energy" left
over. Others emit a smaller amount of energy. Similarly, the fuel's reaction with oxygen may
happen very quickly, or it may happen more slowly.
The fuel's shape also affects burning speed. Thin pieces of fuel burn more quickly than larger
pieces because a larger proportion of their mass is exposed to oxygen at any moment. For
example, you could burn up a pile of wood splinters or paper much more quickly than you could
a block of wood with the same mass, because splinters and paper have a much greater surface
area.
In this way, fires from different fuels are like different species of animal -- they all behave a little
differently. Experts can often figure out how a fire started by observing how it affected the
surrounding areas. A fire from a fast-burning fuel that produces a lot of heat will inflict a
different sort of damage than a slow-burning, low-heat fire.
For much more information on the science of fire, check out the links on the next page.

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How Blowtorches Work

By: Jane McGrath
A welder wielding his trademark tool. See more power tools.
ANTONY EDWARDS/GETTY IMAGES
No tool is quite as cool or as fun to watch as a gas blowtorch. The showers of illuminated sparks
that shoot from a blowtorch at work are mesmerizing. But don't let the pyrotechnics draw you
too close -- these sparks actually are small pieces of molten metal that spit off during cutting and
welding.
Power Tool Pictures
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A blowtorch produces an exceptionally hot flame and harnesses that heat to mold and cut metal.
It does this by using highly combustible gases in the right proportions, which means that it is also
a dangerous tool. Improper pressures, mishandling of the equipment, excessive sparks and messy
workshops can all lead to fires, or even fatal explosions.
The invention of the blowtorch in the late 19th century thrilled pyromaniacs everywhere and
revolutionized the process of welding. The earliest known evidence of welding, or connecting
metal pieces by applying heat, dates back more than 3,000 years. By the Middle Ages, the
process was significantly developed, and blacksmithing was a common profession. A blowtorch
made it easy to cut and weld metal more precisely by focusing a high temperature on a small
point.
Welders and plumbers are not the only ones who wield these fire-breathing machines. Regular
folks may keep them around the house for various tasks including lighting cigars, mending
jewelry and even cooking. In this article, we will discuss the components and fuel of blowtorches
and how to handle one safely.
Welders Scarce
Today, there is a vast and growing need for welders. During the past 20 years or so, welding has
become an unpopular career choice. The Wall Street Journal suggests that young people entering
the workforce are deferring to more white-collar, less dangerous professions. This means that
knowing how to weld pays big bucks in the current market [source: Brat].
Contents
1. Blowtorch Components
2. Fueling the Fire: Blowtorch Gases
3. Blowtorch Safety
4. Lighting Up: Using a Blowtorch
5. Other Uses for Blowtorches
Blowtorch Components
Components of a blowtorch
HOWSTUFFWORKS.COM
Gas blowtorches, even professional ones, are fairly simple constructions. Their basic design has
not really changed in the past century. A professional blowtorch usually consists of a cylinder of
fuel gas, a cylinder of oxygen, two gas regulators, two hoses, the torch and the tip.
Regulators on the cylinder heads control the pressure and flow of the gas. Adjusting them to the
appropriate pressures is essential to preventing explosions. A regulator has two gauges: the high-
pressure gauge reads the gas pressure in the tank, and the low-pressure gauge reads the gas
pressure for delivery to the hose and torch. Learn more about pressure and how to measure it
in How Tire Pressure Gauges Work.
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The hoses that connect the steel cylinders to the torch are made of strong, flexible material,
usually rubber. To avoid confusion, the hose containing oxygen typically is green, while the fuel-
gas hose is red.
The torch head has two needle valves, which are circular knobs that control the flow of either
the oxygen or the fuel gas. The tip attaches to the torch head, and people change it according to
the task being performed and the gas used. When a blowtorch is used for cutting metal,
an oxygen pipe sends an additional stream of oxygen directly to the center of the flame,
increasing its intensity. Finally, an igniter, or pilot light, much like the one on a gas stove,
actually lights the torch. It's a bad idea to ignite these torches with a cigarette lighter or a match
because of the dangerously high temperature of the flames.
What prevents this thing from blowing up in your face? Well, the following attachable safety
devices usually come standard on blowtorches sold today, but can also be sold separately.
 Check valves attached to the regulators and the torch head will help to prevent the gas from
flowing back through the hose or cylinder. The pressure in the hose should always be greater than
the pressure in the torch head. If this changes and the pressure in the torch head surpasses that of
the hose, then the check valve closes, shutting off the gas supply.
 The flashback arrestor fastens to a regulator and typically consists of both a check valve and
a flame barrier, which allows gas through but not flame. These arrestors prevent flashbacks,
which we'll discuss in the Lighting Up section.
Next, we'll take a close look at the different gases blowtorches consume to attain these high
temperatures.
Come on Baby, Light My Blowtorch
Two types of igniters light blowtorches. In the piezo-electric igniter, pulling the trigger
launches a hammer against special crystals, which then produces electric voltage and sparks. To
find out about more of the various and unexpected uses of piezoelectricity, read about how the
lighter in a bbq grill works. A friction igniter, which looks like an oversized safety pin, creates
sparks by scratching special crystals when squeezed.
Fueling the Fire: Blowtorch Gases
Close-up of oxygen cylinders

BEN EDWARDS/GETTY IMAGES
Blowtorches can use different gases depending on the kind of work done. Professional gas
torches use acetylene or MAPP gas to mix with oxygen, while smaller, home torches typically
use either butane or propane.
Let's start with acetylene. Although highly effective, acetylene (C2H2) is a volatile fuel gas. The
volatility stems from acetylene's triple carbon bond. This kind of bond can hold a considerable
amount of energy that releases when ignited. However, the bond's unstable nature means it can
suddenly explode unless it is kept at the proper pressure (between 15 psi and 29.4 psi, where psi
stands for pounds per square inch). Even sudden bumps and small shocks can cause an
explosion. Dissolving acetylene in acetone helps keep it more stable, but it is still dangerous and
must be stored properly; that is, upright, otherwise the acetone can came come in contact with
and harm the other equipment, such as the regulators, hoses or torch head.
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Compared to acetylene, MAPP gas, which is made up of methylacetylene and propadiene, is

much less dangerous. Unlike acetylene, MAPP gas is not prone to explosion if the cylinder is hit
or bumped. It also can withstand higher pressures, which means it's good for underwater work,
like repairing ships. Although MAPP gas flames cannot burn as hot as those of acetylene, some
claim that it meets or exceeds the performance of acetylene in welding [source: Fundamentals of
Professional Welding].
Because oxygen is needed to sustain any flame, it also plays an essential role in the use of all
blowtorches. But why, if the gas is naturally present in the air, is a cylinder of compressed
oxygen necessary? Because without it, neither acetylene nor MAPP gas would burn nearly as hot
as they do. Oxygen acts as an accelerant, which means that it helps the fuel to burn at a higher
temperature.
Welding torches typically use oxygen and acetylene (hence the name "oxyacetylene torch")
because together they produce flames ranging from 5000 degrees Fahrenheit to 6000 degrees
Fahrenheit (2760 degrees Celsius to 3316 degrees Celsius). In fact, the oxyacetylene
combination produces hotter flames than any other gas combinations. Adding pure oxygen to the
flame increases the performance of acetylene by more than 1000 degrees Fahrenheit (538
degrees Celsius), and that of MAPP gas by more than 1500 degrees Fahrenheit
[source: Bernzomatic].
Considering the blistering flames, it's important to know what you're doing before you decide to
light up a blowtorch. In the next section, we'll take a look at the safety measures involved in
starting one.
Alternative Light Source?
Acetylene burns with a very pure, bright white light, so bright that the inventor of acetylene
originally thought the gas would be best used as a source of light. In fact, its illumination
qualities were often useful in places where electricity was not feasible, such as in buoys and
mines.
Blowtorch Safety
Before turning on a professional-grade blowtorch, welders should put on a few protective items,
like gloves, an apron and, most important, goggles or full face masks with tinted lenses (because
of the intense brightness of the flame). In addition, ensuring good ventilation, having a fire
extinguisher handy, frequently checking for leaks and wearing clothes without grease or oil
stains are critical steps in preventing injuries. Even better: wear flame-retardant clothes and hard-
toed shoes.
You'll be grateful for this layer of protection if something goes wrong while you're using a
blowtorch, like a backfire or flashback. Backfire occurs when the flame extinguishes with a loud
pop. Insufficient gas pressure or touching the torch tip against the work causes these backfires,
which, although startling, won't hurt you. Flashback happens when the flame retreats into the
torch because of improper pressures or a clog. If you think flashback is occurring, immediately
shut off both gas cylinders, as it is extremely dangerous.
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A shower of sparks flying from a blowtorch workstation also can be trouble. Despite their
beauty, an abundant amount of sparks can indicate problems. When the sparks sputter out
excessively and far, this can mean that the gas pressures are too high or you may be in danger of
causing a fires [source: Finch].
Welding Growing Pains
The atoms in a solid object are far from stationary -- they constantly vibrate. In fact, they vibrate
more intensely as their temperature rises. When this happens, the repulsion between the atoms
outweighs their attraction, which means that they spread farther apart and the solid expands in
volume. This effect, called thermal expansion, is why it is easier to open the lid to a bottle after
it has been run under hot water. But this process inevitably causes problems for welders. When
only one side of a piece of metal is heated and then cooled, the whole thing becomes warped and
misshapen. That's why welders make sure to heat the entire piece of metal uniformly before they
begin.
Lighting Up: Using a Blowtorch
This friction lighter will come in handy around step 11.

PHOTO COURTESY TIP TEMPERATURE PRODUCTS
After gearing up, a welder follows certain steps to turn a blowtorch on and off. As different
torches have different safety procedures, refer to the specific manufacturer instructions before
operating a blowtorch. A step-by-step procedure for turning on an oxyacetylene torch goes like
this:
1. Turn the acetylene regulator screws out to allow gas through and adjust the working pressure of
the gas.
2. Open the acetylene cylinder slowly, but only a third to a half turn. This allows for the release of
acetylene.
3. Open the acetylene needle valve on the torch head and adjust the acetylene regulator to the best
working pressure (about 5 psi).
4. Close the acetylene needle valve. This stops the flow of acetylene so that you can start the oxygen
safely.
5. Turn oxygen regulator screws out so that oxygen can flow and you can adjust the working
pressure.
6. Open the oxygen cylinder valve slowly until completely open. This allows for the release of
oxygen.
7. Open the oxygen needle valve on the torch head. At this point, you can adjust the oxygen
regulator to attain the best working pressure (about 5 psi for welding purposes).
8. Close the oxygen needle valve so that you stop the flow of oxygen and can later light the gas
safely.
9. Pause and test for leaks in any of the valves and hoses.
10. Open the acetylene needle valve again so that the gas is released and it can light.
11. If the blowtorch is not equipped with an internal spark ignition device, light the acetylene with a
friction lighter held about one inch from the tip.
12. Wait for the black smoke to stop and slowly open oxygen needle valve. Adjusting the oxygen
needle valve affects the type of flame you get. A neutral flame is commonly preferred and is
made up of equal parts acetylene and oxygen.
But to switch off the torch, you follow these steps:
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1. To switch off the torch, close the acetylene needle valve first, which extinguishes the flame.
2. Close the oxygen needle valve. This cuts off the flow of oxygen.
3. Turn off the acetylene cylinder valve and then turn off the oxygen cylinder valve. This stops the
release of the gases from their cylinders.
4. Open the acetylene needle valve until gauges read zero pressure and turn out the pressure
adjusting screws on acetylene regulator. Close the acetylene needle valve. This drains any
remaining acetylene pressure left in the hoses and torch.
5. Open the oxygen needle valve until gauges read zero pressure and turn out pressure adjusting
screws on oxygen regulator. Close the oxygen needle valve. This drains any remaining oxygen
pressure left in the hoses and torch.
[Source: Oregon State University]
Intimidated by all those steps? You may want to try arc welding, which is eliminating the need
for welding with gas blowtorches. Arc welding heats metal by means of electric discharge and is
generally faster and more efficient than the blowtorch process since it focuses heat more
precisely [source: Fundamentals of Professional Welding]. However, gas blowtorches still are
used in certain fabrication processes, as well as in other capacities, such as plumbing, which we'll
discuss next.
Other Uses for Blowtorches
Hot blowtorch soldering right-angle elbow to 15-mm copper tube

©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/OWEN PRICE
Plumbers use blowtorches to solder and fix copper pipes. The word "solder" (pronounced
"sodder," with a silent L) refers both to the process of joining the pipes and to the substance used
in the process. To solder, a plumber heats the pipes and then applies solder material, which
softens in the heat. As the solder melts, it flows into the gap between the pipes and creates a
tightly fitted joint. To learn about a different method of soldering, read about cold heat soldering
irons.
In addition to fixing leaky pipes, many people use smaller, handheld blowtorches for cooking,
stripping paint and thawing frozen pipes. These simplified torches are relatively inexpensive. To
produce a flame, they use pressurized fuel gas, like propane or butane. Rather than having a
separate cylinder of oxygen, they rely on the oxygen in the surrounding air to sustain their flame.
These kinds of torches can reach temperatures of 3200 to 3800 degrees Fahrenheit (1760 degrees
Celsius to 2093 degrees Celsius), lower than those attained by oxyacetylene torches, but still
plenty hot.
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A blowtorch browning crème brûlée to perfection

©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ANNE FERGUSON
Handheld butane or propane blowtorches can come in handy in the kitchen. Most commonly,
cooks fire them up to caramelize the top layer of sugar on crème brûlée -- a custardy dessert --
add a glossy exterior to chocolate ganache or brown the top of lemon meringue pie. Their
focused heat also works well for roasting vegetables and melting cheese. But remember, if you
do keep a blowtorch for home use, it's always smart to have a working fire
extinguisher and smoke detectors nearby.
In the past, blowtorches commonly were used for stripping paint. After being heated with a
blowtorch, paint is soft enough for easy removal with a scraper or putty knife. However, several
potential dangers can come from this practice. For instance, the flame can ignite the wood or dust
on the paint, injuring the user. In addition, if you apply the blowtorch to a lead-based paint, it can
release toxic fumes, which are dangerous to inhale. Because of these reasons, new and safer
techniques have been developed for paint removal, such as electric heat guns, and the use of
blowtorches for this purpose has generally been abandoned.
Similarly, some people grab their blowtorches to thaw out frozen water pipes. However, experts
strongly discourage this practice as it is a safety hazard. If the water inside the pipe starts to boil,
the pipe can explode. People have started fires trying to thaw out pipes this way [source: CBC
News]. For more ideas on thawing frozen pipes, check out the related section of this article.
Although blowtorches can be a dangerous instrument in the hands of untrained amateurs, people
continue to use them. If you're one of them, read more about related subjects, including how fire
works, in the Lots More Information page.

 How Welding Works

 How Fire Works
 How Pyromania Works
 How the Olympic Torch Works
 How Iron & Steel Work
More Great Links
 Welding Resources
 American Welding Society
Sources
How Wildfires Work
By: Kevin Bonsor
Fires like this one are more often than not the result of a careless human action. Watch these wildfire
videos.
PHOTO COURTESY BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
In just seconds, a spark or even the sun's heat alone sets off an inferno. The wildfire quickly
spreads, consuming the thick, dried-out vegetation and almost everything else in its path. What
was once a forest becomes a virtual powder keg of untapped fuel. In a seemingly instantaneous
burst, the wildfire overtakes thousands of acres of surrounding land, threatening the homes and
lives of many in the vicinity.
An average of 5 million acres burns every year in the United States, causing millions of dollars
in damage. Once a fire begins, it can spread at a rate of up to 14.29 miles per hour (23 kph),
consuming everything in its path. As a fire spreads over brush and trees, it may take on a life of
its own -- finding ways to keep itself alive, even spawning smaller fires by throwing embers
miles away. In this article, we will look at wildfires, exploring how they are born, live and die.
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In 2000, this wildfire burned just north of Sula, Montana.

PHOTO COURTESY BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT/JOHN MCCOLGAN
On a hot summer day, when drought conditions peak, something as small as a spark from a train
car's wheel striking the track can ignite a raging wildfire. Sometimes, fires occur naturally,
ignited by heat from the sun or a lightning strike. However, the majority of wildfires are the
result of human carelessness.
Common causes for wildfires include:
 Arson
 Campfires
 Discarding lit cigarettes
 Improperly burning debris
 Playing with matches or fireworks
 Prescribed fires
Everything has a temperature at which it will burst into flames. This temperature is called a
material's flash point. Wood's flash point is 572 degrees Fahrenheit (300 C). When wood is
heated to this temperature, it releases hydrocarbon gases that mix with oxygen in the air,
combust and create fire.
There are three components needed for ignition and combustion to occur. A fire requires fuel to
burn, air to supply oxygen, and a heat source to bring the fuel up to ignition temperature. Heat,
oxygen and fuel form the fire triangle. Firefighters often talk about the fire triangle when they
are trying to put out a blaze. The idea is that if they can take away any one of the pillars of the
triangle, they can control and ultimately extinguish the fire.
After combustion occurs and a fire begins to burn, there are several factors that determine how
the fire spreads. These three factors include fuel, weather and topography. Depending on these
factors, a fire can quickly fizzle or turn into a raging blaze that scorches thousands of acres.
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Contents
1. Fuel Loads
2. Weather's Role in Wildfires
3. Fire on the Mountain
4. Battling the Blaze
Fuel Loads
Fuel is a major factor in determining a fire's intensity.

Wildfires spread based on the type and quantity of fuel that surrounds it. Fuel can include
everything from trees, underbrush and dry grassy fields to homes. The amount of flammable
material that surrounds a fire is referred to as the fuel load. Fuel load is measured by the amount
of available fuel per unit area, usually tons per acre.
A small fuel load will cause a fire to burn and spread slowly, with a low intensity. If there is a lot
of fuel, the fire will burn more intensely, causing it to spread faster. The faster it heats up the
material around it, the faster those materials can ignite. The dryness of the fuel can also affect the
behavior of the fire. When the fuel is very dry, it is consumed much faster and creates a fire that
is much more difficult to contain.
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Here are the basic fuel characteristics that decide how it affects a fire:
 Size and shape

 Arrangement
 Moisture content
Small fuel materials, also called flashy fuels, such as dry grass, pine needles, dry leaves, twigs
and other dead brush, burn faster than large logs or stumps (this is why you start a fire with
kindling rather than logs). On a chemical level, different fuel materials take longer to ignite than
others. But in a wildfire, where most of the fuel is made of the same sort of material, the main
variable in ignition time is the ratio of the fuel's total surface area to its volume. Since a twig's
surface area is not much larger than its volume, it ignites quickly. By comparison, a tree's surface
area is much smaller than its volume, so it needs more time to heat up before it ignites.
As the fire progresses, it dries out the material just beyond it -- heat and smoke approaching
potential fuel causes the fuel's moisture to evaporate. This makes the fuel easier to ignite when
the fire finally reaches it. Fuels that are somewhat spaced out will also dry out faster than fuels
that are packed tightly together, because more oxygen is available to the thinned-out fuel. More
tightly-packed fuels also retain more moisture, which absorbs the fire's heat.
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Weather's Role in Wildfires
Wildfires can produce winds that are 10 times stronger than the winds surrounding them.
Weather plays a major role in the birth, growth and death of a wildfire. Drought leads to
extremely favorable conditions for wildfires, and winds aid a wildfire's progress -- weather can
spur the fire to move faster and engulf more land. It can also make the job of fighting the fire
even more difficult. There are three weather ingredients that can affect wildfires:
 Temperature
 Wind
 Moisture
As mentioned before, temperature affects the sparking of wildfires, because heat is one of the
three pillars of the fire triangle. The sticks, trees and underbrush on the ground receive radiant
heat from the sun, which heats and dries potential fuels. Warmer temperatures allow for fuels to
ignite and burn faster, adding to the rate at which a wildfire spreads. For this reason, wildfires
tend to rage in the afternoon, when temperatures are at their hottest.
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Wind probably has the biggest impact on a wildfire's behavior. It also the most unpredictable
factor. Winds supply the fire with additional oxygen, further dry potential fuel and push the fire
across the land at a faster rate.
Dr. Terry Clark, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, has developed
a computer model that shows how winds move on a small scale. Since 1991, he's been
converting that model to include wildfire characteristics, such as fuel and heat exchange between
fires and the atmosphere.
"We look at what's called coupled fire atmosphere dynamics, where the fire and the
atmosphere interact with each other," Clark said. "We've been looking at how fires interact with
the environment and getting some of the characteristics of fire spread and fire behavior, through
the modeling that we've been doing."
Clark's research has found that not only does wind affect how the fire develops, but that fires
themselves can develop wind patterns. When the fire creates its own weather patterns, they can
feed back into how the fire spreads. Large, violent wildfires can generate winds, called fire
whirls. Fire whirls, which are like tornadoes, result from the vortices created by the fire's heat.
When these vortices are tilted from horizontal to vertical, you get fire whirls. Fire whirls have
been known to hurl flaming logs and burning debris over considerable distances.
"There's another way that you can tilt the vorticity. That is it can be titled without breaking into
fire whirls, and basically be burst forward into what's called hairpin vortices or forward bursts,"
Clark said. "These are quite common in crown fires [fires at the top of trees], and so you see fires
licking up hill sides." Forward bursts can be 20 meters (66 feet) wide and shoot out 100 meters
(328 feet) at a speed of 100 mph (161 kph). These bursts leave a scorched region and lead to fire
spread.
The stronger the wind blows, the faster the fire spreads. The fire generates winds of its own that
are as many as 10 times faster than the ambient wind. It can even throw embers into the air and
create additional fires, an occurrence called spotting. Wind can also change the direction of the
fire, and gusts can raise the fire into the trees, creating a crown fire.
While wind can help the fire to spread, moisture works against the fire. Moisture, in the form of
humidity and precipitation, can slow the fire down and reduce its intensity. Potential fuels can be
hard to ignite if they have high levels of moisture, because the moisture absorbs the fire's heat.
When the humidity is low, meaning that there is a low amount of water vapor in the air,
wildfires are more likely to start. The higher the humidity, the less likely the fuel is to dry and
ignite.
Since moisture can lower the chances of a wildfire igniting, precipitation has a direct impact on
fire prevention. When the air becomes saturated with moisture, it releases the moisture in the
form of rain. Rain and other precipitation raise the amount of moisture in fuels, which suppresses
any potential wildfires from breaking out.
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Fire on the Mountain
More often than not, fires travel faster up slopes. Once at the top of a hill, fires tend to burn out.
The third big influence on wildfire behavior is the lay of the land, or topography. Although it
remains virtually unchanged, unlike fuel and weather, topography can either aid or hinder
wildfire progression. The most important factor in topography as it relates to wildfire is slope.
Unlike humans, fires usually travel uphill much faster than downhill. The steeper the slope, the
faster the fire travels. Fires travel in the direction of the ambient wind, which usually flows
uphill. Additionally, the fire is able to preheat the fuel further up the hill because the smoke and
heat are rising in that direction. Conversely, once the fire has reached the top of a hill, it must
struggle to come back down because it is not able to preheat the downhill fuel as well as the
uphill.
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Dr. Clark says that fires travelling slower uphill are an exception to the rule, but it does happen.
Winds can work against a fire that is trying to move up a slope.
"It depends on which way the wind's blowing," he said. "For example, I have a case study in
Australia where the wind was blowing down the mountain side, blowing the fire away from the
hill until a front came through. Then it went uphill."
In addition to the damage that fires cause as they burn, they can also leave behind disastrous
problems, the effects of which might not be felt for months after the fire burns out. When fires
destroy all the vegetation on a hill or mountain, it can also weaken the organic material in the
soil and prevent water from penetrating the soil. One problem that results from this is extremely
dangerous erosion that can lead to debris flows.
An example of this occurred following a July 1994 wildfire that burned about 2,000 acres of
forest and underbrush on the steep slopes of Storm King Mountain, near Glenwood Springs,
Colorado. Two months after the fire, heavy rains caused debris flows that poured tons of mud,
rock and other debris onto a 3-mile stretch of Interstate 70, according to United States Geological
Survey. These debris flows engulfed 30 cars and swept two into the Colorado River.
While we often look at wildfires as being destructive, many wildfires are actually beneficial.
Some wildfires burn the underbrush of a forest, which can prevent a larger fire that might result
if the brush were allowed to accumulate for a long time. Wildfires can also benefit plant growth
by reducing disease spread, releasing nutrients from burned plants into the ground and
encouraging new growth.
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Battling the Blaze
Firefighters build firebreaks like this one to remove potential fuel from a wildfire's path.
Imagine being inside an oven, wearing heavy clothing with smoke filling your lungs, and you
can only begin to understand what it's like to fight a raging wildfire. Every year, thousands of
firefighters put their lives at risk to battle merciless blazes. The elite, ground-based firefighters fit
into two categories:
 Hotshots - Working in 20-person teams, the main job of these highly trained firefighters is to
build a firebreak around the fire to keep it from spreading. A firebreak is a tract of land that has
been stripped of any possible fuel for the fire. Hotshots are employed by the U.S. Forest Service.
 Smokejumpers - These firefighters are the paratroopers who jump out of planes to get to small
blazes located in remote areas. Their job is to suppress small fires before they are able to spread
into larger ones. Smokejumpers use the same firefighting techniques as the Hotshots once they
have landed on the ground. There are only a few hundred smokejumpers in the entire United
States, all employed by either the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the U.S. Forest Service.
In addition to building firebreaks and dousing the fire with water and fire retardant, ground crews
may also use backfires. Backfires are fires started by the ground crew that advance toward the
burning wildfire. The goal of setting a backfire is to burn up any potential fuel in the path of the
progressing wildfire.
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An air tanker drops water and fire retardant onto a wildfire.
While the Hotshots, Smokejumpers and other support crews fight the battle on the ground, they
are given a lot of support from the air. Air tankers are often used to drop thousands of gallons of
water and retardant onto fires. The red stuff that you often see being dropped
from planes and helicopters is a chemical retardant that contains phosphate fertilizer, which helps
to slow and cool down the fire.
Helicopters are also used as a method of attacking the fire from above. Carrying buckets that can
hold hundreds of gallons of water, these aircraft fly over the fire and drop water bombs.
Helicopters are also valuable for transporting firefighters to and from the fire.
Wildfires are powerful forces of nature that can burn for as long as they have fuel, oxygen and
heat. The job of the firefighters is to eliminate one, if not all three, sides of the fire triangle to
prevent further damage.
For additional information on wildfires and related topics, check out the links on the next page.
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Related Articles
 How Smokejumpers Work

 Top 5 Ways Wildfires Start
 What if a wildfire came near my house?
 How Fire Works
 How Firefighter Training Works
 How the Sun Works
 How Lightning Works
 How Volcanoes Work
 How Tornadoes Work
 How Hurricanes Work
 How Earthquakes Work
 How Floods Work
More Great Links
 CBC News In-depth: Forest Fires

 National Interagency Fire Center
 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
 Bureau of Land Management
 U.S. Forest Service
What if a wildfire came near my house?

By: Katherine Neer
In 2000, this wildfire burned just north of Sula, Montana. See more pictures of natural disasters.
PHOTO COURTESY BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT/JOHN MCCOLGAN
In just seconds, a spark or even the sun's heat alone can set off an inferno. Wildfires spread
quickly, consuming thick, dried-out vegetation and almost everything else in their path. What
was once a forest becomes a virtual powder keg of untapped fuel. In a seemingly instantaneous
burst, a wildfire overtakes thousands of acres of surrounding land, threatening the homes and
lives of many in the vicinity.
An average of 5 million acres burn every year in the United States, causing millions of dollars in
damage. Once a fire begins, it can spread at a rate of up to 14.29 miles per hour (23 kph),
consuming everything in its path. As a fire spreads over brush and trees, it may take on a life of
its own -- finding ways to keep itself alive, even spawning smaller fires by throwing embers
miles away.
Advertisement
After combustion occurs and a fire begins to burn, three factors control how the fire spreads.
Depending on these factors, a fire can quickly fizzle or turn into a raging blaze that scorches
thousands of acres. These three factors are:
 Fuel
 Weather
 Topography
Wildfires spread based on the type and quantity of fuel that surrounds them. Fuel can include
everything from trees, underbrush and dry grass to homes. The amount of flammable material
that surrounds a fire is referred to as the fuel load. Fuel load is measured by the amount of
available fuel per unit area, usually tons per acre. A small fuel load will cause a fire to burn and
spread slowly, with a low intensity. If there is a lot of fuel, the fire will burn more intensely,
causing it to spread faster. The faster it heats up the material around it, the faster those materials
can ignite.
Because vegetation is the primary fuel for wildfires, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) recommends a minimum 30-foot safety zone around your home. You should:
 Limit the number and size of plants within this zone.

 Replace highly flammable species with less flammable vegetation.
 Limb trees from their base up to about 15 feet up the tree.
 Remove any climbing vines or espalier attached to your home.
 Cut grass and prune trees and shrubs in this area regularly.
 Remove plant debris such as broken limbs and fallen leaves.
A second zone, extending to 100 feet from the house, is also suggested. In this zone, you should
lower the volume of vegetation and replace highly flammable trees and shrubbery with less
flammable varieties.
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Wildfires and Wind
Dry brush goes up in flames easily.

Landscape foliage isn't the only culprit to be found around your home. You should also consider
what your house is made of and any combustible items you store nearby. If you live in an area
that has a history of wildfire activity, your home may already be outfitted with fire-retardant
materials. For example, a slate or metal roof is much better than regular shingles. Check any
outside storage closets or buildings for flammable items like paint, kerosene, gasoline or propane
and move them 10 to 15 feet away from your home or any other structures. This includes that gas
grill near your deck.
Temperature has a direct effect on the sparking of wildfires, because heat is one of the three
pillars of the fire triangle. Sticks, trees and underbrush on the ground receive radiant heat from
the sun, which heats and dries potential fuels. Warmer temperatures allow for fuels to ignite and
burn faster, adding to the rate at which a wildfire spreads. For this reason, wildfires tend to rage
in the afternoon, when temperatures are at their hottest.
Advertisement
Wind probably has the biggest impact on a wildfire's behavior. It is also the most unpredictable
factor. Winds supply the fire with additional oxygen, provide even more dry potential fuel and
push the fire across the land at a faster rate.
The stronger the wind blows, the faster the fire spreads. The fire generates winds of its own that
are as much as 10 times faster than the ambient wind. It can even throw embers into the air and
create additional fires, called spotting. Wind can also change the direction of the fire, and gusts
can raise the fire into the trees, creating a crown fire. Obviously, you can't do anything to change
the weather, but you can be aware of it. If a wildfire is in your area, you will want to watch the
weather and note any changes in wind direction or speed or humidity. When the humidity is low,
meaning that there is a low amount of water vapor in the air, wildfires are more likely to start.
The higher the humidity, the less likely the fuel is to dry and ignite.
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Wildfires and Topography
Topography greatly affects wildfire movement: slope is the most important topographical factor.
Another big influence on wildfire behavior is the lay of the land, or topography. Although it
remains virtually unchanged, unlike fuel and weather, topography can either aid or
hinder wildfire progression. The most important factor in topography as it relates to wildfire is
slope.
Unlike humans, fires usually travel uphill much faster than downhill. The steeper the slope, the
faster the fire travels. Fires travel in the direction of the ambient wind, which usually flows
uphill. Additionally, the fire is able to preheat the fuel further up the hill because the smoke and
heat are rising in that direction. Once the fire has reached the top of a hill, it must struggle to
come back down because it is not able to preheat the downhill fuel. So, if you live on a hill you
will want to follow the steps listed previously, making sure that your zone covers the downhill
side of your property. Furthermore, according to FEMA, you should extend the safety zone
beyond the minimum 30 feet. Remember, the idea is to interrupt the fuel source so the fire
cannot spread.
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Another thing you should do, whether you're in the vicinity of wildfire activity or not, is have an
evacuation plan. In the event of a wildfire, this plan should not only include getting out of your
house - make sure you have fire ladders for upper floors - but also an escape route with alternates
just incase any roads are blocked-off.


 How Fire Works
 How Firefighter Training Works
More Great Links
 CBC News In-depth: Forest Fires

 National Interagency Fire Center
 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
 Bureau of Land Management
 U.S. Forest Service
How Firefighter Training Works

By: Cameron Lawrence
IMAGE COURTESY IMAGE FACTORY GRAPHICS / MORGUEFILE
To a typical kid, the only thing cooler than a fire truck is somebody who rides in one.
Firefighters maneuver through the city at high speeds and climb ladders to sickening heights.
These highly trained specialists risk their lives every day fighting fires. It's easy to see why so
many people aspire to become firefighters: serving as one is heroic and adventurous. But
becoming a firefighter takes more than brute strength and guts of steel.
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In this article, we'll take a closer look at what it takes to become a municipal firefighter and
examine different elements of their training.
Before you can become an active-duty firefighter, you need to spend about 600 hours in training,
over the course of 12 to 14 weeks. That's somewhere between 40 to 48 hours per week, which
makes firefighter training a full-time job. Training typically occurs at a fire academy, which is
often run by the fire department, a division of the state government or a university.
 Be at least 18 years old (sometimes 21)

 Have a high school diploma or equivalent, though many career fire departments now require a
college education
 Be physically fit
 Have a clean criminal record
 Have corrected 20/20 vision
Firefighting is a highly competitive field. Thousands of applicants apply every year across the
country, but most are rejected. Many departments hire every two years, and typically give staff
positions to about 30 applicants at a time. While some fire departments only require applicants to
hold a high school diploma, many look for applicants with two years of college credits from an
accredited college or university. Firefighting is so competitive, in fact, that many applicants
obtain EMT or paramedic certification before applying to become a firefighter, making them
more desirable to hiring departments. Today, more applicants than ever before have four-year
degrees in Fire Science or related fields, which has made the field even more competitive.
To enter a training program, applicants take three exams: a written test, a Candidate Physical
Ability Test (CPAT) and an aptitude test. The written exam typically consists of around 100
multiple choice questions and covers spatial awareness, reading comprehension, mechanical
reasoning, logic, observation and memory.
To pass the physical portion of the firefighter exam (CPAT), recruits must be able to quickly climb
an extended ladder.
The primary focus of the physical ability test is agility, upper body strength and endurance. Each
task is timed and tests the applicant's capacity to endure sustained physical activity. These tasks
are reflective of what students do in the fire academy throughout their training day in and out. It's
unlikely that an applicant who strains to complete the tasks will survive 14 weeks of training,
and so is a strong indicator of future success.
Physical tests vary from academy to academy, but here are some common tasks:
Applicants train for the CPAT in some unusual ways. Often, applicants run up and down stairs
or stadiums, lift heavy sacks of sand by rope, or jog in multi-level parking garages.
Next, we'll take a look at the most exciting and dangerous aspect of firefighter training.
Thank You
Thanks to Mike Wieder for his assistance with this article.
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Live Fire Training
Firefighter recruits prepare for training in Las Vegas, Nev.

IMAGE COURTESY MIKE WEIDER
In order to survive, firefighters must be able to think critically and clearly and solve problems
quickly, under extreme stress. This can be especially difficult in an actual fire, so training
instructors conduct live fire training drills: they purposely set buildings on fire to give students
opportunities to develop these skills. The overall goal of this behavioral training is to instill good
habits in students through repeated exposure. Live fire training is conducted in burn buildings,
which are structures, built or acquired, to be intentionally burned for firefighter training. Let's
take a look at what a typical live fire training session looks like, according to the NFPA
(National Fire Protection Association).
An instructor gives a briefing of the day's activities, and students dress in their high-tech, multi-
layered specialty clothing. These clothes can withstand temperatures up to 1,200 degrees
Fahrenheit. In addition, each student wears an SCBA, tacking on an extra 30 pounds.
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Next, the students enter the burn building. One instructor goes before the students, and one trails
behind. The students place themselves on the same side of the hose and distance themselves an
arm's length from each other. Other students, who won't be operating the hose in the structure,
prepare to move the hose line forward as the crew goes further into the structure. The crew gets
down into a crawling position as they enter the burn area, making sure to keep the hose line
between themselves and the flames. As the students approach the area they will attack, they take
their positions on the line, one operating the nozzle, the others supporting.
An Army National Guard firefighter puts on his SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) and
helmet.
IMAGE COURTESY CPL. BENJAMIN COSSEL / U.S. ARMY
The instructor gives the go-ahead and the students open the nozzle, attacking the flames. At the
instructor’s command, the crew closes the nozzle positioned away from their bodies to avoid
steam burns on exposed skin. Now the students rotate. The nozzle operator moves to the back of
the line and everyone else moves forward. The crew repeats this process until everyone has a
turn operating the nozzle. When they extinguish the fire, the crew leaves the structure quickly
but safely, leaving only the nozzle operator and a back-up crew member behind. The two of them
stay to make sure the fire doesn't re-ignite. When it's clear the fire is permanently extinguished,
the crew works together to retract the hose line from the structure.
After the training drill, the instructor checks the students for injuries. Once everyone is checked
out and accounted for, the instructor reviews the activity and provides constructive feedback.
Next, we'll look at the different types of burn building used in training and learn about firefighter
ranks and volunteers.
Live Fire Training
There's much more to live fire training than just setting a building on fire. See what happened
when HowStuffWorks joined firefighters from eight North Carolina counties for a live fire
training exercise.
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Burn Buildings and Firefighter Ranks
Trainees practice operating a fire hose and put out a small fire on training grounds.
There are three types of burn buildings: traditional, acquired structures and simulated
structural fire buildings. Traditional burn buildings, built with special materials, can withstand
multiple fires, although they do break down over time. Traditional burn buildings exist in
communities, at fire academies and on university campuses. The fuel used to ignite fires in these
structures is typically straw, hay or wood pallets.
Acquired structures are condemned houses or other abandoned buildings. Instructors locate a
suitable building and begin a tedious process. First, an instructor gets written permission from
the building's owner and acquires necessary permits and health clearances to proceed. They
notify everyone in the surrounding community of the pending burn, including residences and
businesses. Instructors make certain there's no insurance or liens on the property to prevent
fraudulent claims and legal trouble. With the legal issues out of the way, site preparation begins.
Here's how the process works:
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 Inspectors approve the building's structural integrity and make sure it's safe for training exercises.
 A crew repairs unsafe conditions such as broken stairs and rotted floors for interior training.
 They remove fuel sources other than Class A. Live fire training only involves ordinary
combustibles, or Class A fuels (fabric, wood, paper and rubber).
 A crew member cuts a hole into the roof to channel convection currents out of the structure.
When fuel sources burn, they produce gases. Convection happens when these gases move
together, creating a wave of heat that moves upward. These currents, if not given an outlet, can
make the fire spread or build up, causing a spontaneous explosion called a backdraft.
 They score chimneys near their bases to ensure they fall when the structure collapses.
 The instructor identifies positions on the site for the instructors and emergency medical personnel
to safely observe.
 The site is ready for training to begin.
Even with the preparations and precautionary measures, using an acquired structure can still be
very dangerous. The fire is controlled, but that doesn't mean it's any less real. From 1994 to
2004, 99 firefighters were killed during training, some of these in live fire training. Statistics like
these led fire instructors to adopt a new, safer method for live fire training: simulated structural
fire buildings.
Simulated structural fire buildings are far more advanced and rely on computers to control the
fire. These burn buildings' computers control built-in fire-producing devices that run on propane
and natural gas, and use a non-flammable aerosol to synthetically create real smoke. If there's an
emergency, the burn building has systems to extinguish the fire and extract all of the smoke with
the push of a button. The computer also lets the instructor choose in how the fire will burn and at
what temperature. The computers are capable of simulating fire scenarios for different
occupancies in the building, residential or otherwise. They can even simulate inflamed furniture,
such as burning sofas or tables.
Engineers design these burn buildings with a variety of materials, including masonry, concrete
and metal. The walls and ceilings of the building are covered with heat-resistant tiles with built-
in sensors to keep track of the fire's intensity. The roof contains "chop-out panels" made of
wood, which gives students the opportunity to learn how to properly ventilate a burning house
and deal with major burns to the building's structure. When the training crew applies
extinguishing agents, the building has sensors that can tell which one the crew applies and
whether or not it has been appropriately applied. The sensors communicate to the main computer
how to respond to the crew's method. If a crew inappropriately applies an agent, it will simulate a
real-world response.
Airport firefighter trainees put out a simulated engine fire.

Specialty firefighters, like airport firefighters, also use this technology in training props. For
instance, an airport fire crew may attack flames on a section of an airplane fuselage sitting in a
gravel pit. For their prop, the computer controls a system of gas pipes that come up from under
the fuselage.
Simulated structural fire buildings are the safest and most durable out of the three burn building
options. Conducting live fire training in an acquired structure can be a gamble, because there's no
guarantee how long the building will stand. It's common to schedule training in an acquired
structure only to have it fail halfway through. Training in acquired structures and traditional burn
buildings can also be more labor intensive. If the fire goes out, the crew stops the training drill to
reignite the controlled burn. And no matter how durable the materials used in a traditional burn
building are, fire is a formidable force and eventually the structure breaks down and becomes
unusable.
If maintained properly, a simulated structural fire building can last indefinitely. Also, their
durability produces not only better-trained firefighters, but more of them -- a noteworthy
advantage over their more primitive counterparts. When instructors don't have to relight fires or
spend time acquiring and prepping new structures, they're free to focus on training. Further
benefits include significantly reduced air pollution, making it easier to conduct training in
populated communities.
But some critics claim that buildings with simulators don't reproduce fires to realistic
temperature or magnitude, giving students a false perception of real-world fires. Some of the
mechanisms for responding to the application of extinguishing agents have also been criticized
for the same reason. Though they are severely limited and hazardous, acquired structures provide
the most realistic training experience currently possible.
Volunteers and Ranks
Volunteer firefighters adhere to the same guidelines and requirements that career firefighters do,
as outlined by the document NFPA 1001, but in many states and jurisdictions, volunteers aren't
required to become certified. Only a minority of volunteers ever make it that far. Most volunteer
firefighters work other jobs and can't devote full-time hours to training. Instead, local fire
departments offer weekly or monthly training events to ensure everyone develops the skills they
need. Other than in the state of Florida, volunteer firefighters aren't restricted from any
firefighting tasks. Some departments consist entirely of volunteers, including the truck drivers,
called engineers, who often have experience driving big rigs or school buses. In addition to
driving, engineers operate the hose pumps.
IMAGE COURTESY KATHY BISHOP / MORGUEFILE

For a career firefighter, becoming an engineer is a first-level promotion in the department.
Firefighters are usually eligible for such a promotion after a few years of working for the
department. It is then up to newer crew members to battle the blazes. From there, one can move
up the ranks of the department. Standard ranks go as follows:
 Firefighter
 Engineer
 Lieutenant
 Captain
 Battalion Chief
 Deputy Chief
 Assistant Chief
 Chief
For more information on firefighter training and related topics, check out the links on the
following page.
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 How Fire Works
 Inside Ladder 49
More Great Links
 United States Fire Administration

 National Fire Protection Agency
 International Fire Service Training Association
Sources
 Rafilson, Fred. (2003) Firefighter 14th Edition: 1-53.

 NFPA 1403: Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions.
http://www.ci.yakima.wa.us/services/fire/NFPA1403.pdf
 Masi, Mary. (1998) Firefighter Career Starter: Finding and Getting a Great Job. New York:
Learning Express.
 Campbell, Colin A. "Burn Building Basics." February 15, 2006.
http://firechief.com/news/firefighting_burn_building_basics/index.htm
 United States Fire Administration. "Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2004."
http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/fa-299.pdf
 White, Clarence. "Conducting a Safe Structural Burn Training Drill". February 15, 2006.
http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/printer.jsp?id=39285
 Brady, Don T. (2003) Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal. "Gas-fueled, computer-controlled,
systems: Delivering Safe, Live Fire Training."
http://www.kiddeft.com/Article_Delivering_Safe.shtml
 Colletti, Dominic, and Davis, Larry. "Calculated Risk." February 15, 2006
http://firechief.com/mag/firefighting_calculated_risk/index.htm
 Pikulsky, Jeff. (2003, August 18). "Burn Building' unveiled at Cal U." The Valley Independent:
PittsburghLIVE.com. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/news/s_150478.html
 City of Denton Fire Department: Fire Extinguishers
http://www.cityofdenton.com/pages/fireextinguishers.cfm
Swamps and Wildfires: A Dangerous Combination

By: Mark Mancini
The West Mims Wildfire in the Okefenokee Swamp on the Florida/Georgia line was started by a
lightning strike on April 6, 2017 and burned well into June 2017. JOSH O'CONNOR - USFWS
"Know your enemy" is a perfect motto for wildland firefighters. The brave souls who've chosen
this line of work understand its many dangers. Forest fires are not their only source of trouble:
One of the biggest challenges these men and women can face is an out-of-control peatland
swamp fire. Don't let the standing water fool you: Bogs and swamps are fertile terrain for a
tenacious, sneaky kind of inferno that smolders underground and might spend years lurking
beneath the surface.
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For Peat's Sake
Recognized as one of the American South's greatest natural wonders, the vast Okefenokee
Swamp rests on the Georgia-Florida border. In 2007, lightning and a felled power line sparked a
plague of converging wildfires in and around this storied wetland. More than 926 square miles
(2,398 square kilometers) worth of vegetation were torched in the Okefenokee's two home states.
Huge columns of town-smothering smoke could be seen from Atlanta to Orlando. By the time
the crisis ended, it had cost the citizenry an estimated $130 million in damages and firefighting
expenses.
The Okefenokee is accustomed to this sort of thing. Prior to '07, the swamp had endured massive
fires in 1844, 1860, 1910, 1932, 1954 and 1955. History repeated itself once again in 2011, when
another round of brushfires terrorized the swamp for more than eleven months straight.
There's a reason why this boggy area — a lush place that's teeming with fish, alligators and
aquatic plants — gets so many fires. And that reason is peat.
Peat is a carbon-rich, organic turf that covers 3 percent of the world's land surface. About 50 to
70 percent of all wetlands, including the Okefenokee Swamp, are situated above large deposits of
this material. Its main ingredient is dead plant matter that hasn't fully decomposed. Remains of
other deceased organisms are also contained within blocks of peat, along with minerals absorbed
in the local sediment.
To get peat, you generally need an area where there's little water beneath the ground and
microorganisms in the soil are creating an anaerobic — or low-oxygen — environment. As more
and more organisms die off, peat steadily accumulates over hundreds or thousands of years.
Forests and wetlands can form over these peat sheets, the thickest of which are more than 50
feet (15.2 meters) deep. It's thought that the oldest peats on the planet started forming 12,000
years ago — right after the last ice age.
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Smoldering Real Estate
Pressure from above slowly drives peat deeper into the Earth, where it eventually becomes coal.
And like that prized mining commodity, peat harbors a lot of trapped carbon from dead life
forms. In fact, peat plays host to a third of all the carbon that's stored inside the world's soils. All
this carbon renders the substance highly flammable. Even damp peat makes for good kindling
when water makes up less than 55 percent of its total weight.
A spark at the surface might be all that's required to ignite the peat under a swamp or forest.
Whereas living trees burst into licks of orange flame, peat catches fire in a less dramatic way: It
smolders like a lit cigarette. Once they get started, peat fires move at a gradual pace, creeping
along through the substrate. The slow burns have been known to last for years before getting
extinguished. They can also reach the surface, setting some trees or bushes ablaze. It's not
unheard-of for a peat fire to do exactly that and then retreat back underground, only to reappear
later on. In 2014, seven Canadian peat fires caused surface-level damage and then went under
before they resurfaced the following year.
Fires liberate the trapped carbon, sending it into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide.
This has the unfortunate effect of triggering longer dry seasons in places where peat bogs
naturally occur, making them more likely to ignite. It's a nasty feedback loop — and a big
contributor to our climate change problems.
What's more, smoke from these fires aggravates respiratory problems for those who inhale it. A
2015 outbreak of the bog burnings in southeast Asia led to dense, low-lying clouds of haze. We
don't know how many deaths this caused, but one team of researchers came up with a tentative
figure of 100,300 fatalities distributed between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Fighting back isn't easy. Sometimes, you can smother a peatland fire by pumping water into the
turf, but this technique requires a huge amount of time, effort and planning. Waiting for them to
die of natural causes is an exercise in frustration. As we've established, it can take a months or
years for one of these fires to burn through its fuel supply. Intense rainstorms have been known
to put them out, but if the peat gets struck by lightning, that can make it smolder again.
Alas, a wildland firefighter's job is never done.
Now That's Interesting
Many carnivorous plants like Venus flytraps and the aquatic bladderworts live in bogs and
swamps; the soils in these habitats offer very few nutrients, so the plants compensated by
evolving the ability to munch on live animals.
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How to Make a Fire Safety Plan for Your Home

By: Emilie Sennebogen
If you don't already have one in place, it's time to draw up your escape plan.
ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK
Have you ever stopped to think about watching your house go up in flames, and your whole life
disintegrate into ash and soot? If you answered no, there's a reason for that: It's too horrifying for
words. For many of us, our home is an extension of ourselves. It's a place where memories are
made, a refuge from the craziness of the outside world and a sanctuary for the things and people
we love. How could we ever imagine watching it go up in flames?
Statistically, it's unlikely that you'll ever be faced with having to evacuate a fire in your home.
But the problem is you really never know if you will become one of the statistics. You could
continue your habit of doing all of the things that you should do to ensure you run a safe
household, but despite all of your fire safety procedures, lightning could strike your roof, igniting
a fire. Or a faulty wire could spark and ignite some insulation in your attic.
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Unfortunately, whether or not a fire could start in your house is never completely within your
control. But the plan you have in place to respond to an emergency like this is something that
you can. Read on for important tips on developing a fire safety plan for your family and home.
Contents
1. Fire Safety Tips for the Home

2. Fire Extinguisher Safety Tips
3. Fire Safety Escape Plan
Fire Safety Tips for the Home
We all know how important it is to be prepared if a fire were to ever occur in the home. But we
also know that prevention is always preferable, so it's time to take stock of your family's
awareness and practices of fire safety in the house. Some of the common sense stuff that is easy
to get lazy about includes:
 Keep matches and lighters in locked cabinets, away from small children.
 Only allow candles to be lit when an adult is in the room, and make sure your candleholders are
made of materials that aren't flammable, like glass or metal.
 Have chimneys, fireplaces and wood stoves inspected once a year and cleaned as necessary.
 Keep space heaters away from curtains and other flammable items, and make sure they're turned
off (and unplugged when possible) when you leave the house or go to bed.
 If you have to keep a gas can at your house, try to store it in an outdoor shed, away from the main
building of your home.
 If you have windows or doors with security bars, make sure they have a quick release option and
that everyone in the family knows how to open them.
 Keep dish towels away from an open flame and never leave the stove or oven unattended.
 Have working smoke alarms installed on every level of your home, test them every month and
change the batteries at least once a year. If you're hooked up to a security system, test that it pages
the fire department when the alarm goes off. You can work with your security company to make
this happen.
 Ensure that all of your light bulbs are the correct wattage for your lamps and fixtures. If they're
too high, they can easily catch fire.
 Keep a fire extinguisher on hand for small fires.
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Fire Extinguisher Safety Tips
Fire extinguishers are pretty powerful, so make sure you have a good grip.
ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK
When purchasing a fire extinguisher for your home, there are a couple important things you need
to know. Fire extinguishers are rated for different types of fires. Class A is for regular materials
like wood, cardboard and cloth, Class B works on flammable liquids, such as gas, oil and grease,
and Class C is for electrical equipment, like wires and fuse boxes.
If you have a Class B or a C extinguisher, you can use them on type-A fires. But it's bad news to
use water or a Class A extinguisher on grease or electrical fires. So, your best bet is to look for
an extinguisher that is rated A-B-C. That way, you'll be covered for any type of emergency.
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Home fire extinguishers are also rated for the size of fire they can deal with; larger numbers can
handle bigger fires. This is important information because most portable fire extinguishers
completely discharge in around 8 seconds, so you're not going to want to tackle a raging inferno
with a small, lightweight extinguisher.
Your fire extinguisher should be installed in plain view and you should always perform the
maintenance suggested by the manufacturer. In the unfortunate case that you'll have to use your
fire extinguisher, you should start by standing at least 6 to 8 feet away and remember the PASS
procedure:
 Pull the pin out.

 Aim low. You'll want to point the nozzle at the base of the fire.
 Squeeze the lever below the handle.
 Sweep from side to side while carefully moving toward the fire.
Do this until the flames are out and then watch the fire area for a while. If the fire re-ignites then
repeat the process. Most importantly, if you can't get the fire out then you need to evacuate the
premises immediately and call the fire department.
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Fire Safety Escape Plan
If your apartment building has a fire escapt, make sure it's functional and in good repair.
PHOTODISC/THINKSTOCK
The first step in creating a fire safety escape plan for your home is to draw a floor plan for each
level of your home, marking all possible emergency exits from each room via doors and
windows. The door is always the ideal exit, but if it's blocked by fire then there needs to be an
alternative, like a window. This means that windows need to be able to open easily from the
inside, so as we mentioned previously, any security bars need a quick release latch that everyone
in the home knows how to operate. If your exterior doors are deadbolt locked, then make sure
there is a key in easy reaching distance to the door, so you don't have to waste time trying to get
to your keys.
Be sure to include stairways, and details like a garage roof or porch that could aid in a quick
escape. If you have a second story, it's not a bad idea to have portable fire escape ladders
standing by that can be attached to a window and used to evacuate in an emergency. If you have
young children, people with disabilities or elderly relatives living with you, they're probably
going to need some assistance getting out, so you'll need to decide who is responsible for helping
them. And don't forget to include your pets in the plan, as well. Have visible signage on your
home of how many pets you have, so the fire department is aware or let them know when you
call them that there are pets in the house.
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In the case of a fire emergency, it's likely you'll have mere minutes to get everyone out safely, so
taking a few minutes to plan these details in advance could literally be a matter of life or death.
You'll also want to pick a meeting place outside of your house, so you can account for everyone
and make sure they're safe.
Once you have all the details decided, you'll need to practice the plan to make sure you can
execute it quickly. It's recommended to hold fire drills at least twice a year to make sure that
everyone knows what to do without hesitation. This is a great time to discuss details of the real
thing. For example, remind everyone not to open doors if the knobs are hot and crawl low and
keep your mouth covered if there's smoke in the air. Also, everyone should be warned to not
waste time trying to grab any property on the way out. Stuff can be replaced, but your family
cannot

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