Manual Fire Suppression: Edit Edit

Manual fire suppression[edit]
Manual fire suppression includes the use of a fire blanket, fire extinguisher, or a standpipe system.
Fire blanket[edit]
A fire blanket is a sheet of fire retardant material that is designed to be placed over a fire to smother it out.
small fire blankets are meant for inception stage fires. They are normally made of fiberglass or Kevlar. [1] Larger
ones can be found in laboratories and factory's and are designed to be wrapped around a person whose
clothes have caught fire.
Fire extinguisher[edit]
Fire extinguishers are one of the most common manual fire suppression devices and are required in all
commercial building and vehicles.[2] Fire extinguisher can be used with little to no training and are meant for
small incipient stage fires. The most common extinguisher is the ABC extinguisher and are found in most
offices and homes. It can be used on normal fires, liquid fires, and electrical fires. There are also special
extinguishers for kitchen fires and for use on burning metals.
Standpipe[edit]
Standpipes are installed in most large, multistory buildings.there are two types of standpipes dry and wet. Most
standpipes are dry systems and can not be used by the public. Dry systems require a fire engine to pump
water into the system. Most dry systems don't have pre-connected hoses and require firefighters to bring in the
hose. In wet systems, there is always water in the pipes and can be used by anyone. Wet systems will have
hoses so building occupants can try and extinguish fires. wet systems are becoming less common with the
increase of sprinkler systems being installed.[3]
Automatic fire suppression[edit]

Automatic control means are any form of suppression that requires no human intervention these can include
a fire sprinkler system, a gaseous clean agent, or Automatic foam suppression system. Most automatic
suppression systems would be found in large commercial kitchens or other high-risk areas.
Automatic suppression: Sprinkler head. Heat causes the liquid in the bulb to expand, burst the glass and create an opening
through which the water is released to extinguish the fire.
Sprinkler systems[edit]
Fire sprinkler systems are installed in all types of buildings, commercial and residential. They are usually
located at ceiling level and are connected to a reliable water source, most commonly city water. A typical
sprinkler system operates when heat at the site of a fire causes a fusible link or glass component in the
sprinkler head to fail, thereby releasing the water from the sprinkler head.[4] This means that only the sprinkler
head at the fire location operates – not all the sprinklers on a floor or in a building. Sprinkler systems help to
reduce the growth of a fire, thereby increasing life safety and limiting structural damage.
Gaseous clean agent[edit]
Gaseous clean agents are installed in places where water or dry chemical extinguishing agents will do more
harm than good. They are mostly installed in server or computer rooms where water or fine dust particles will
cause vast amounts of damage. The system works by flooding an area with an inert or a mix of inert gasses to
break the fire tetrahedron. Due to the inert gases displacing oxygen, there is a suffocation risk when it is
activated. Most systems have a short delay to give people the opportunity to evacuate.
Foam suppression system[edit]
Automatic foam suppression systems come in three main forms low expansion, medium expansion, and high
expansion.[5]
Low expansion[edit]
Low expansion foam expands less than 20 times its original size. These systems can be installed in a variety
of places but are commonly found in places where hydrocarbons are stored. Low expansion foam systems
when using film forming work by making a blanket of foam over the burning liquid to both cool it down and
suppress the vapors.
Medium expansion[edit]
Medium expansion foam expands between 20 and 200 times its original size. These can be installed in outdoor
settings like transfer stations or for use in open pits. Medium foam is used outdoors because it is denser than
high expansion and won't blow away as easily. It works by covering what is on fire in a thick blanket of foam to
smother it and suppress vapors.
High expansion[edit]
High expansion foam expands between 200 and 1000 times its original size. These systems are commonly
installed in large volume areas like airplane hangars, mine shafts, and ship holds. These systems are normally
installed inside and make a very light foam. They extinguish the fire by rapid smothering and cooling.[5] Its rapid
rate of expansion enables it to fill large areas with foam rapidly. When used on LNG tanks they provide an
added insulation layer that helps reduce the vapor rate.
Fire detection[edit]
Detection:A common, residential smoke detector sounds an alarm when smoke is detected, to initiate egress.
Fire detection works using smoke or heat sensors. These systems are very effective tool at alerting people in
the immediate vicinity of where the fire is detected but building regulations[6] require an integrated fire detection
system. These system not only alerts people throughout the building by triggering the fire alarm but it can also
summon emergency services. There are two types of systems available – addressable and conventional.
Addressable systems monitor the specific location of each device (eg smoke detector, call point or sounder). It
means in the event of a fire or other emergency you know exactly where the problem is. This saves precious
time and helps the emergency services prevent the loss of life and serious damage. Conventional systems can
only determine the problem is in a general area and thus are more suited for small sites.[7]
When the fire detection system is activated it can also send an alert to the local fire department, broadcast a
prerecorded warning message and unlock the buildings access control system.
Hypoxic air fire prevention[edit]

Fire can be prevented by hypoxic air. Hypoxic air fire prevention systems, also known as oxygen reduction
systems are new automatic fire prevention systems that reduce permanently the oxygen concentration inside
the protected volumes so that ignition or fire spreading cannot occur. Unlike traditional fire suppression
systems that usually extinguish fire after it is detected, hypoxic air is able to prevent fires. At lower altitudes
hypoxic air is safe to breathe for healthy individuals.
Construction and maintenance[edit]

All AFP systems are required to be installed and maintained in accordance with strict guidelines in order to
maintain compliance with the local building code and the fire code.
AFP works alongside modern architectural designs and construction materials and fire safety education to
prevent, retard, and suppress structural fires.
See also[edit]
 Fire damper
 Fire hydrant
 Fire protection engineering

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Manual fire suppression[edit]

Automatic fire suppression[edit]

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Construction and maintenance[edit]

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