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order to understand how fire extinguishers work,
you first need to know a little bit about fire.
Fire
is a chemical reaction involving rapid oxidation
(burning) of a fuel. Three things must be present
at the same time in order to produce fire:
FUEL
- any combustible material - solid, liquid or gas.
Most solids and liquids must vaporize before they
will burn.
OXYGEN
- Sufficient oxygen must be present in the atmosphere
surrounding the fuel for fire to burn.
HEAT
- Sufficient heat energy must be applied to raise
the fuel to it's ignition temperature.
The
combination of these three elements is frequently
referred to as the "fire triangle". The important
thing to remember is that if any one of these three
things can be removed there will be no fire or the
fire will be extinguished. Essentially, fire extinguishers
put out fire in most cases by taking away one or
more elements of the fire triangle.
Fire
safety, at its most basic, is based upon the principle
of keeping fuel and ignition sources from contact
with each other.
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