What Everyone Should Know About Putting Out a Fire

The Fire Triangle (Oxygen + Fuel + Heat) is used so that you can understand how fire extinguishers work, by learning a little bit more about fire. Four things must be present at the same time in order to make a fire. Enough oxygen to sustain the fire, enough heat to raise the material to its ignition temperature, a type of fuel or kind of combustible material, and the chemical, exothermic reaction that is fire. The important thing to know is that if you take any of these three things away, and you will no longer have a fire because the fire will be extinguished. Since a fire extinguishers works to element part of this triangle, it is only effective on the type of fire you have.

Before deciding to fight the fire, keep in mind that if you are uncomfortable with the situation for whatever reason you should call 911 so that the firefighters can take care of the fire.

If you do not know what started the fire, you cannot know what type of extinguisher to use. If you have an extinguisher, there might be something on fire that is going to explode or produce toxic smoke. If you do not know what is burning you will have to let the fire department handle fighting the flames. Now if the fire is spreading quickly do not try to fight it just evacuate the building. When you evacuate the building, close any doors and windows behind you as you leave.

It is best to let the fire fighters do there job if you do not have the right extinguisher since you could make the fire even worse. Since you will not have the same equipment to keep yourself safe from toxic smoke and the intense temperatures that a fire may produce you will want to get out of the building as quickly as you can. The smoke that a fire produces creates a mixture of carbon monoxide and other toxic gases as it consumes other synthetic materials. These gases can cause death or the lack of oxygen my make you pass out. If you are in a smoke filled room you may need to crawl around on your hands and knees to minimize the effects of the bad air.

If you are going to put out the fire you will need to position yourself with an exit or path to escape behind you. In case you are unable to put out the fire yourself, you will need to be able to leave, without becoming trapped.

Now you will want to use the acronym PASS to use the extinguisher. Just Pull, Aim, Squeeze & Sweep. First, you need to PULL the Pin this will free the lever so you can use it to discharge its contents on the fire. Then you will need to AIM at the base of the fire. Do not aim at the flames since you want to put out whatever is fueling the fire. If you aim at the flames, it will not put out the fire. Next, you want to SQUEEZE the handle or lever to release the extinguishing agent and then, SWEEP from side-to-side. You will need to keep squeezing and sweeping until the fire is completely out. Sometimes a fire may re-ignite so keep an eye on the area before leaving it unattended.