Home Fire Protection

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Technical Note (National Research Council of Canada. Division of Building Research), 1959-07-01

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NOT FOR PUBLICATION

PREPARED BY

PREPARED FOR

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA

DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH

'fECIHIN II CAlL

CHECKED BY G.W. Shorter and K. Sumi General Information

No.

.279 USE BY July

1959

SUBJECT

Home Fire Protection

(This note has been prepared in response to inquiries as a guide for the selection of fire extinguishing equipment for the home. Since fire protection is a responsibility of municipal and provinoial authorities, it is reoommended that the local fire

department or the provinoial fire marshal's office be consulted by those who wish for

further information or ｡ｾｳｩｳｴ｡ｮｯ･Ｉ

FIRE PREVENTION

-As the majority of home fires are oaused by carelessness and-negleot, the best fire proteotion for the home is a good

fire prevention program. The major causes of home fires in

Canada are those related to heating equipment, eleotrical Wiring

and appliances, ｦｬ｡ｭｾ｡｢ｬ･ liquids, and smokers' carelessness.

The-ignition and development of fire is often aided by the accumulation of combustible materials such as newspapers,

magazines, and old clothing. Good housekeeping, therefore, is

one of the most important aspects of fire prevention. It should

always be remembered that fire prevention should form part of normal household activities.

FIRE DETECTION

One must assume that in spite of fire prevention

precau-tions a fire may start. Early deteotion is most important.

."

2

-ｯｾ unusual odour should be investigated without delay.

Immediately upon detecting 9 fire all the occupants should

be alerted. Early warning is essential so that occupants

can evacuate a bUilding before ｴｨ･ｩｾ escape routes became

impassable owing to fire and smoke. Simultaneously, the

fire department should be notified. Early notification of

the fire department is of paramount importance as its assis-tanoe may be required for rescue as well as fire fighting. This is particularly true for areas served by a rural brigade, since a fire department may take some time to respond because, in genet'al, road"s are poorer, especially in winter, and the distances that brigades must travel are longer than in oities.

FIRE FIGHTING

_....

-

_...

Following notification of the fire department it may be possil)le to ext:i.nguish a small fire or to retard its

development by using a portable t'lre ext:Jnguisher, connnonly

known as a "first-oid" fire ･ｸｴｩｮｧｵｩｳｨ･ｾＮ

Home fire fighting equipment can be grouped ｵｮ､･ｾ

two headings: (A) ｣ｯｭｭ･ｾ｣ｬ｡ｬ first-aid fire ･ｾｴｬｮｧｵｩｳｨ･ｾｳ

and (B) other first-aid fire ｡ｰｰｬｩ｡ｮ｣･ｾＮ I

(A) ｃｯｭｭ･ｾ｣ｩ｡ｬ first-oid ｦｩｉＧｾｌＮＡＬｸｴｩｮｧｵｩｳｴＺ･ｲｳ

When cons:J.dering the selection of first-aid fire extin-guishers, it should be borne in mind that these extinguishers

vary in their effectiveness on different types of fires. The

type of extinguisher to be seleoted, therefore, should be

related to the type of fire against which proteotion is desired. For practical purposes the types of fires can be divided into three classes:

Class A fires - fires involving ordinary combustible material such as wood and paper.

Class B ｦｩｾ･ｳ - fires involving flamnable liquids,

greases, etc.

Class C fires - fires involving electrical equipment.

A brief description of some of the more common types of ｣ｏｾｬ･ｲ｣ｩ｡ｬ first-aid fire extinguishers follows.

3

-1. _{Description of extinguishers}

(a) Extinguishers suitable against Class A fires (i) Water extinguishers

Pump tank extinguishers consist of a oontainer

usually holding 2 1/2 or

5

gallons of water,

pro-vided with a built-in pump, attaohed hose and nozzle. Water-filled extinguishers usually contain 2 1/2 gallons of water whioh is expelled from the extin-guisher by stored air pressure or oarbon dioxide

released from a oartridge. The stored-pressure type

is operated by means of a seat-type valve on the

extinguisher. The gas-cartridge type is operated by

depressing a lever, striking a knob, or inverting the extinguisher and bumping it on the floor. (ii) Soda-aoid extinsuishers

Soda-acid extinguishers are water solution extinguishers in whioh pressure developed by a chemioal reaotion is used to expel the solution. The oommon 2 1/2-ga1lon soda-acid extinguisher is operated by inverting it to allow the chemicals

to mix. The reaction is between sodium bioarbonate

solution, which is the extingUishing agent, and oonoentrated sulphurio acid.

(iii) Chemical foam extinguishers

Chemioal foam extinguishers are oonstruoted with separate containers for two solutions of a foam

charge. The common portable model has a capaoity

of 2 1/2 gallons. When the extinguisher is inverted

the two solutions mix and reaot ohemioally, foam

is produoed, and is expelled by the pressure developed in the extinguisher.

Foam is suitable for use against Class A fires, although its primary use is against Class B fires. It is most effeotive when used on flammable liquids oontained in tanks or where a flammable liquid may

have spilled but is not flOWing. It is less

effective where the smothering layer of foam may be broken by the flow of the liquid.

4

-(b) Extinguishers suitable against Class Band C fires (i) Dry chemical extinguishers

Dry chemical extinguishers are available in hand-portable models having oapacities ranging

up to

30

pounds. The ･ｸｴｬｾｧｵｩｳｨｩｮｧ agent is a

powder which is expelled by carbon dioxide,

nitrogen, or compressed air. The main oomponent

of the dry ohemical oharge is usually sodium

bioarbonate to which additives have been introduoed to produoe water-repellent and free-flowing

oharac-teristics. In most of these extinguishers the

expellent gas is provided in a oartridge and is

released by puncturing a seal diso. Models are

also available in which the dry chemical is under constant pressure of the expellent gas stored within,

the body of the extinguisher. Onoe pressurized, the

dry chemical is disoharged by operating a quiok-opening valve either at the body of the extinguisher

or at the end of a hose. The qUick-opening ｶ｡ｾｶ･

permits on-off oontrol of the disoharge, which is in the form of a dense cloud of powder.

These extinguishers are most effeotive against

small Class B fires. They are also of value against

Class C fires.

(ii) Carbon dioxide extinguishers

Carbon dioxide extinguishers are available in

hand-portable models having capaoities ranging up

to

25

pounds. The extinguisher oonsists of a

cylinder containing liquid carbon dioxide under a pressure of 800 to 900 pounds per square inch at room temperature, a hand-operated valve, and a

discharge horn connected to the valve by a flexible hose or metal tubing.

As carbon dioxide is essentially non-conduoting, these extinguishers are suitable for use on fires

involving electrical equipment. The expansion of

liquid oarbon dioxide as it escapes from the orifice of the extinguisher chills it to a low temperature so

that approximately

30

per cent of the liquid carbon

dioxide is converted into solid carbon dioxide "snow". Although the cooling effect of this" snow" is of help

in extinguishing a small fire, the main effect is the smothering action.

- 5 ...

(iii) Vaporizing liquid extinguishers

Vaporizing liquid extinguishers are available in hand-portable models having oapacities ranging

from 1 quart to 3 1/2 gallons. The extinguishing

agent is essentially a halogenated hydrooarbon

such as carbon tetrachloride or ohlorobromomethane. It is expelled from the extinguisher by a manually operated pump or by air, nitrogen, or oarbon

dioxide under pressure. When the stream of

vapo-rizing liquid is generated over a fire, the liquid evaporates rapidly and forms a smothering blanket of vapour.

Vaporizing liquid extinguishers are often used for protection against fires involVing eleotrioal

equipment. They are also of value against small

fires where flammable liquids are involved. The

toxic hazard of vaporizing liquid extinguishers is recognized; but this hazard is relatively small where the extinguishers are used outdoors or in a

spaoe where there is good ventilation. The corrosive

nature of the decomposition products should be considered where the vaporizing liquid is used on fires near fine tools or precision metal parts.

2. Classification of extinguishers

First-aid fire extinguishers are tested and classified by

Factory Mutual Laboratories and Underwriters' Laboratories, Ino.

(or Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada) in accordance with ｴｾｾｩｲ

standard tests. Although there is, in general, good agreement in

the ｲｾｳｵｬｴｳ obtained by the two testing laboratories, only the

｣ｾ｡ｳｳｩｦｩ｣｡ｴｩｯｮ adopted by the Underwriters' Laboratories will be disoussed in this note.

The potential fire extinguishing ability of rirst-aid fire extinguishers is classified by Underwriters' Laboratories in terms

of their standard fire extingui shment tests. For Class AfIres, all tests

are conducted using a vertical wood panel.

An

extinguisher is

ｾｩｶ･ｮ a ｬｾａ rating if it is capable of extinguishing a fire involving

50

square feet, a 2-A rating for 100 square feet, etc. For Class B

fires, all tests are oonducted in square pans with gasoline floating

on water. An extinguisher is given a l-B rating if it is oapable of

extinguishing a 2 1!2-square-foot fire, a 2-B rating for

5

square

6

-The approximate olassifioation of some of the more oommon types

and sizes of portable extinguishers is given in Table 1. Additional

information oonoerning weights of fUlly oharged extinguishers, ef'feoti ve discharge time, and maximum eff'ect iva range, obtained by Factory Mutual Laboratories, is given in Table 2.

Table 1 - Classification of first-aid ･ｸｴｩｮｾｩｳｨ･ｲｳ

Extinguishing agent Size of Classification

extinguisher

Water 2 1/2 gal 2-A

Soda-aoid 2 1/2 gal 2-A

Chemical foam 2 1/2 gal 2-A;

4-B

Dry ohemical 4-6 1/4 lb of powder

ｾＭｂ［

G

7

1/2 1b of powder ...B; G

10-15 lb of powder 8-B; G

20 Ib of powder 16-B; C

Carbon dioxide 6 lb or less of oarbon

dioxide I-B; C

7

1/2;lb of oarbon dioxide 2-B; C 10-12 Ib of oarbon dioxide 4-B; C 15-20 lb of oarbon dioxide 4-B; C Vaporizing liquid 1 - 2 1/2 qt 1/2-B; C (carbon tetra-ohloride base)

(B) Other £irst-aid fire appliances

1.

!!£!

pails, buoket tanks, barrels

Water pails are oommonly used in plaoe or a Class A portable, extinguisher. The standard fire pail usually oontains about 12 quarts. Five 12-quart or six ｬｏｾｱｵ｡ｲｴ water-filled pails are ｡ｰｰｲｯｸｩｭ｡ｴ･ｬｾ

olassified as 2-A.

Buoket tanks have capaoities of

25

to 55 gallons and have s1x lO-quart or five 12-quart pails nested within the tank. This unit is also given approximately a 2-A rating. A 55-gallon barrel or drum With oover and three l2-quart pails looated inside or nearby is also given approximately the same olassifioation.

2. ｾ ｾ pails

Pails o£ sand are still used to a limited extent as first-aid fire proteotion. Sand is of value in preventing fires in spills of flamm8ble liquids by oovering and absorbing the spilled material.

8

-3.

Garden ｾ

A garden hose is an effective device for extinguishing small

Class A fires. It has a number of advantages including uninterrupted

flow of water and adjustable nozzle. Its use will, of course, be

dependent on having water pressure, a factor which may not be reliable during a fire in areas where electricity is used to pump water from individual wells.

In general, if a garden hose is being used to extinguish a smal1 Class A fire, it is best to apply the water in the form of a spray as in addition, it has the advantage of keeping water damage to a minimum.

4.

_...

Other devices in the home.-.,;".

...

ＮＮＮ［Ｌ［ｾｾＮＮ［［ＮＮＮ［［［ＬＭＭＭ

A broom, mop, blanket or rug may be useful for smothering a

small fire. Some of tbe powders used in the kitchen, e.g. baking

powder, may be useful for throwing on a small Class B fire.

First-aid fire extinguishers have a limited supply of fire

extinguishing agent. Their effective use, ｴｨ･ｲ･ｦｯｲｾ depends upon

prompt discovery of fire before it has spread beyond the oapacity of

the extinguishing units available. The ｾｰｯｲｴ｡ｮ｣･ of notifying the

fire department early cannot be over-emphasized for often delay in taking this aotion is the difference between a large and a small fire. References

2.

3·

National Board of Fire Underwriters. NBFU No. 10. Standard

for the Installation, Maintenance and Use of Portable Fire

Extinguishers, New York, July

1958; 54

p.

Faotory Mutual Engineering Division. Approved Equipment for

Industrial Fire Protection,

1958, 184

p.

Handbook of Fire Protection; Crosby-Fiske-Forster. National