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Although we can do our tmost to prevent fires from happening by
solating the sources of heat from c mbustibles and oxygen, it is
often the nexpected event that catches us unawares. C relessness Sometimes, forgetfulness can result in an ccidental fire. Putting a
kettle to b il water on a gas stove and f rgetting about it can be
disastrous. Wh n all the water has evaporated, the k ttle becomes red
hot, melt and spr ad the molten metal around. LP gas l aks are also dangerous. If the f el-air mixture is in just
the r ght proportion, an explosion can occur wh n a heat source is
introduced in. M ny accidents have occurred when a l ght is switched on
in an xplosive environment. The correct thing to do th n is to free the
room of any gas by sh tting off the source of the gas and l tting in more
fresh air into the r om. Chemical reactions can also cause h at and fire. Mixing acids and
lkalis, mixing components of some household gl e like epoxy resins and
hardeners can g nerate quite a substantial amount of h at that can lead
to fires. The c ntainers used and the amount of ch mical used can have a
great ffect on the heat produced. Plastic c ntainers are known to melt
and b rn when large quantities of thermosetting pl stics like epoxies are
mixed with h rdeners.
Fires are also known to be st rted by the careless smokers who thr w
lighted cigarette butts indiscriminately. Many b sh fires are started
this way. S me areas are especially vulnerable to c reless acts like
these. People working in the g rage at home should be very c reful not
to cause a fire, specially with open petrol cans and ther volatile
fuels around them. Sometimes, sm kers fall asleep while smoking, and
th ir bed or sofa catches fire. The r bber foam mattress used for
bedding can c tch fire easily. Although most electrical quipment is quite safe as far as f re is
concerned, the use of s b-standard and poorly designed equipment may
g ve rise to overheating and fires. C relessness in the area of
electrical ppliances can cause fires as well as lectrical shocks.
Many households use multiple p wer points because they have many
lectrical equipment that must be used at the s me time. Videos,
television, fans, radios, and f ncy lights may occupy only one
lectrical socket. When a multiple adapter is sed, usually the
connection pins cannot be f tted very tightly. The loose power
c nnections are a source of sparking and d terioration of the insulation
materials and can l ad to fires. This will be w rst if high powered appliances are sed because the
electrical current drawn fr m these will be very much h gher and so the
wires and c nnections gets hotter. Preventive Measures Since we kn w that all the three conditions of h at, fuel and oxygen
must be pr sent in order for a fire to st rt; our basic fire prevention
strategy m st be to keep them isolated fr m each other. Heat sources
must be k pt away from combustible materials and if p ssible, from
oxygen. We should take a cr tical look at all the sources of h at in the home.
They are the p tential fire hazards. It is good to m ke an audit of our
own h mes and make a list, or at l ast be aware of all the h at sources
in the home. Electrical w ring, appliances, gas stoves, kerosene lamps,
c ndles, electrical light bulbs, ovens, electrical k ttles, barbecue
fires, burning garden refuse, and so on, are s me of them. Even spells
of dry w ather should be looked at with v gilance.
The sources of heat are m ny. Below are some of the s urces of heat
that we have to xercise caution, so that we can be specially careful
not to let them c me into contact with combustibles: · K tchen Gas Appliances - The normal ppliances in the kitchen are the
gas st ves, and the kerosene stoves. These are n rmally safe, efficient
and seldom gives tr uble. However, the conditions of the k tchen stoves
are often spoilt by sp llage of soups, gravies, and other f od materials
from the cooking processes. Aft r a long time of use, and specially
with cooks who do not t ke special precautions, the gas stove b come
blackened with carbon, oil and ther debris. Gas orifices and nozzles
get ch ked up. Carbon deposits pile up. The c rbon deposits become its
other source of f el. The soot fire can burn if it is h ated long
enough. The environment in a b sy kitchen can make it a f re risk. Gas hoses
are especially pr ne to deteriorate if the material sed can be attacked
by the pr sence of oil. Cooking oil is ver present in the kitchen
environment. H ses coated by a layer of oil w ll produce leaks. Any leak
in the gas h ses is dangerous. It can shoot fl mes of fire all around
the pl ce uncontrollably and spread the fire. Do a r gular check on your gas hoses and s rvice your gas stove regularly. · El ctrical Installations and Appliances - Mains lectrical wiring and
their components can be a h dden source of heat that can c use a fire.
Sometimes, due to l ose contacts in the terminals of lectrical
switchboxes, some sparking will occur. If th s is not found out early and
r ctified, the sparking will become worse, and the h at produced becomes
more. Carbonization of the nsulation materials will occur. Once the
c rbon gets deposited on the insulation m terials, it becomes a conductor
of lectricity. Short-circuiting of the electrical wiring w ll occur
leading to overheating of the w ring. If the electrical protection
devices do not w rk, the overheating will cause the nsulation materials
of the wiring to ven melt or decompose. When the d composition gases
given out by the nsulation materials catch fire, the whole h use can be
burnt down. Do a r gular check up of your electrical w ring in your house, and
quickly c ll in a qualified electrician to r ctify any fault. Electrical appliances also h ve to be used properly. When p ople modify
equipment indiscriminately, sometimes they l ave out or bypass certain
safety f atures put in by the manufacturer. Appl ances can become
overheated and cause b rning. It is better not to do any m dification
unless you know what you are d ing. Do not do bypass any s fety feature in any electrical appliance. · B rning of candles, garden refuse, incense, m squito coils and
other open burning - The s urces of heat is quite obvious. Wh n we do
any open burning, m ke sure that the source of h at is not able to
reach ther surrounding materials. It is good pr ctice to clear the area
before d ing open burning. We must also th nk about how to control the
f re if it gets too big. Be r ady to dose the fire with w ter if it gets
too big. We kn w that we need a source of h at, a fuel, and oxygen in rder to
have a fire. Other th n looking at all the places wh re we encounter
sources of heat, it is g od preventive practice to store easily
c mbustible materials safely. Some materials do not n ed a lot of heat
in rder to ignite, while some materials can be k pt at quite high
temperatures without any f re occurring. We need to identify the asily
combustible materials and keep them out of h rms way. Some materials in the h me are known to be easily c mbustible. It is
advisable to store th se materials in a cool and solated place away
from the house if p ssible. Should a fire occur by any ch nce, they
will have less opportunity to spr ad. Below are a list of c mmonly used
inflammable materials in the h me. However, the list is not xhaustible: · Paints, turpentine, spirit, aerosols for spr y paints.
· Kerosene, p trol, diesel, and other oils used for f el.
· Aerosols used for p sticides
· Paper and w od, especially when dry
· V getable oils used in cooking
· Oth r solvents like nail polish There are ther materials that can catch fire if br ught to a source
of heat. S me of them are listed below. The b st way to handle these is
to do r gular house cleaning to remove them: · L ose organic dust like sawdust, cotton d st, woolen dust
· O ly deposits from the atmosphere
· D st and deposits from insects Involving Oth rs Sometimes, even though we have t ken all the precautions, fires can
st ll come from a neighbor's house. S metimes, it can even come from
the sky in the f rm of fireworks! Sometimes the sparks fr m a neighbor's
rubbish fire can fly ver to your own home and c use a fire. So it is s mply not enough that you alone kn w how to prevent fires.
The p ople around you should also know bout fire prevention. Everybody needs to be ducated in fire prevention. When a f re happens
in the neighborhood, there is a v ry real possibility that the fire can
spr ad to the surrounding houses. It is ssential that no fires at all
st rt in any of the houses in the n ighborhood or even the community. When veryone understands the grave consequences of th ir actions, the
fire risk becomes m re manageable. Children are especially high p tential fire starters if they are not
t ught about the risks. With their n tural curiosity, playing with fire
comes n turally to them at some point in th ir life. Adults have the
responsibility to mpart the knowledge of fire prevention and the
c nsequences of fire to them quite arly in their growing up years. In rder for adults to have this kn wledge themselves, the relevant
authorities should rganize courses on fire safety and f re safety
awareness campaigns. The media, ncluding newspapers, magazines,
television and radio, has an mportant role to play in getting the
m ssage of fire prevention to the g neral public. Their message should
be ble to reach the masses and ngrain in them the importance of f re
prevention. The message of fire pr vention should be delivered continuously over a
l ng period of time. A fire s fety campaign should only be considered
s ccessful when people considers fire prevention a n tural thing to do.
It must b come habit and a daily way of l fe. Then only can lives and
pr perties be secured. The knowledge of f re prevention is even more important th n fire
detection and fire fighting. If a f re does not start, or is pr vented
from starting, there is no l nger any need for fire detection and f re
fighting. Everybody should be preventing f res even before it can start. Is pr vention enough? Sometimes, we have done the b st we can. We have isolated the s urces
of heat. We have stored way inflammable materials away from sources
of h at. We have done whatever we can to the b st of our knowledge. Can a f re still start? Incidents of fire can st ll happen. For example, a mouse in y ur house
may decide to chew on y ur highly powered electrical wires, or a l zard
may managed to crawl into y ur electrical switchboard and cause a sh rt
circuit, or the hot weather may c use the weeds and bushes around y ur
house to catch fire. So wh le steps taken for the prevention of f res will keep us safe most
of the t me, it is also good to be pr pared in case a fire still st rts
despite our actions. There are p rtable smoke detectors available in the m rket for those who
want to h ve an early warning when a f re starts. This can in fact be
c nsidered prevention too - preventing a l rge fire. These smoke
detectors will be ble to alert the occupants about any sm ll fires so
that it can be put off b fore it becomes large and unmanageable. It can
pr vent loss of property and lives. Any f res detected early have a
very g od chance of being extinguished. It is lso good to keep a portable f re extinguisher at home for the
p rpose of putting out small fires. For the h me, the most suitable
portable fire xtinguisher to keep is a dry p wder extinguisher because
it will be ble to handle all the likely cl sses of fires found in the
h me. It can be used to put out f res involving solid materials like
wood and p per, oils and even electrical fires w thout the risk of
electrical shocks. In c nclusion, when we are able to nstill awareness of fire prevention
to all the p ople around us, we will have won the b ttle with fire.
Fire becomes our lly and we can tap its b nefits without worrying about
its consequences. F re becomes our friend and not our f e.
The article Effective Fire Prevention Measures in the Home 2 was Submitted by Thomas Yoon through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: "How To Warning Secret" Nothing Els Compares To Preserving Life from F re! Surprisingly Simple But Powerful Smoke D tector that You can install Effortlessly. http://www.free-marine.com/linkfire.htm Many years of working experience in Marine, Facilities, Construction has given the author material for writing e-books and articles related to engineering, and management. Subscribe to facworld ezine at mailto:facworld-subscribe@yahoogroups.com More information at http://www.free-marine.com and http://www.free-engineering.com
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