「放火」知识知多少？？！！

Just kidding you, I mean 「防火」知识 lah.

I had the pleasure to attend a brief talk about prevention of fire yesterday. Perhaps it is not a bad idea for me to pen down the things I could recall. In other words, what I’m going to write down now may not going to be 100% accurate (much due to my poor memory). You ought to think for yourself. :P

- - - - -

Do we know the fire-engine extended platform can be stretched vertically up to only about 53m, and that is about 13th storey?

Mm.. Does that imply anyone staying above 13th storey and hope to escape from a fire be prepared to jump?

- - - - -

Do we know that dust collected near electrical sockets is a perfect ingredient to spark off a fire?

On a related note, may I ask how we switch off your TV set?

Related question meh? Haha.. Let me elaborate a little.

Do we switch off your TV set by just using the remote control and leave the main switch on, out of convenience? In that way, the TV set is not really being switched off, it is on stand-by mode. Mm.. To put it more crudely, it is at the same time a stand-by mode to catch fire.

Why?

Mm.. Do we clean the electrical sockets regularly? Please take a look at those electrical sockets hidden at the back of our hi-fi, tv, computers, etc.. If these sockets are already collecting dust, and for some reasons there is a short-circuit, then liao liao.. The short-circuit causes sparks, the dust catches fire because of the sparks, and the fire gradually builds up.. and then really liao liao..

- - - - -

If it is burning at the six storey and thick black fumes are already forming and flowing upwards even through the staircases of the escape route and you are staying at a few levels above, would we take a fast dash dowards (through the thick smoke) or would we dash upwards instead?

Actually, the number 1 killer during a fire is thick smoke (which can be poisonous), the number 2 killer is heat. Many people who had tried to perform such stunt of making a quick dash downwards were either found badly burnt or dead because they were succumbed by the thick smoke easily. It is common to find reports of many people found dead along staircases a few levels above the main source of fire.

But the fire will spread upwards what?

True.

We are talking about chances of survival here. Walking through thick black smoke is never a good idea.

We should dash higher. Get into a house. Close all doors and windows to block thick fumes coming in. Use wet towels/blankets to block gaps below doors to further prevent thick fumes from coming in.

Go into a toilet, use the one in the master-bed-room and not the one in the kitchen because the toilet near the kitchen is nearer to the gas-source and hence more dangerous.

Go into a toilet for what? Go in and thoroughly wet ourselves. Better still, take a blanket and wet it too. Use the wet blanket as an extra shelter for our body.

Remember to call 995. Don’t be like a sitting duck. Call 995 and they must respond within 8 minutes.

- - - - -

What to do when we really need to move around to search for an escape route?

If for some reasons we need to walk around in search for an escape route, please keep low, but not leopard crawl. Leopard crawling is more energy draining and we usually ended up drawing in more heavy breath, that means drawing in more smoke, that means more likely to die faster as a smoked burnt leopard.

Also, we are advised to try to take a bottle of water with us, if possible. Not for drinking. If we are breathing in an environment already in fire, the breath we take contains poisonous particles from the smoke. These particles actually will stain our breathing track, then drinking actually draws in these poisonous particles faster into our system. Then take the bottle of water for what? To wet our mouth, our eyes, our nose, our eyes..

- - - - -

Saying this much, are we gear up? I mean.. Do we have a fire-extinguisher at home?

We should be responsible to fight small fire if we have the means to handle. I mean if for some reasons, our TV set caught a small fire and we happen to be around, it is only nature that we try to put if off and don’t let the fire spread. But please ran for cover if we know we cannot handle.

Do we have a smoke detector at home?

Every fire gives out smoke. Smoke detector gives off an alarm when fire is detected. Many people we badly injured because they were alerted of a fire too late. I mean they were sleeping in their room and the kitchen caught fire. By the time they realised, the fire was already rather unmanageable.

Hence, it is advised to have a smoke detector. One per house unit is enough. Just place it strategically between the kitchen and the living room.

Do we have a “fire-fighting mask” at home?

Such mask can let us survive safely in thick smoke environment for about 20 minutes.

- - - - -

Do we know the different types of fire extinguisher?

I know you already know many types.

I think from the talk, I concluded the dry powder type is still the best for home use. I mean it is good for all purpose.

Using the wrong type of fire-extinguisher can bring disastrous effects.

For example, if any electrical appliance were to catch a fire, an attempt to fight such fire with water is disastrous.

We must be extra careful when using CO₂ type of fire extinguisher. Actually cold CO₂ (dry ice) is used and hence any contact with our skin may not be a good idea. This is not the scariest part yet. CO₂ fire extinguisher fights by depriving the fire of oxygen. But when the dry ice evaporates (that is after a while we have sprayed at the fire and thinking that the fire is arrested), a fresh gust of air carrying fresh gust of oxygen will rush into the source of fire. In other words, a little flame not killed by us may in turn cause another round of combustion to occur. Scary. The lesson will be if we are using CO₂ type of fire-extinguisher, make sure we perform a good sweep to kill any little flame at the source, if not.. erm.. better don’t use a CO₂ type.

Sadly, many fire-extinguishers being sold in the market are not really up to standard. They don’t even have a pressure gauge. Yes, we must have the right content in the tank, but we need the right pressure to let it shoot out at the base of the fire. It is unimaginable to have the situation that at the time in need, the fire-extinguisher refuses to shoot out the content accordingly. That will be so bad. In other words, if we are getting one, at least get one with a pressure gauge (and some kind of warranty).

Anyway, I also find the following steps of how to use a fire-extinguisher easy to follow :

PASS
Pull the pin – Aim at the base of fire – Squeeze the trigger – Sweep from side to side

- - - - -

A little true sad incident to share..

A little girl was sleeping soundly in her room. The fan in her room somehow got short-circuited and the thick dust around it caught fire. The fan sent the burning dust towards the girl and the girl caught fire also.

The little girl wake up in pain and screamed for help.

Her mother on the other room rushed in. The mother was panick-stricken to see her dear daughter in fire. Her maternal instinct was to save her. She drew a thick furry blanket nearby and tried to cover her daughter with the blanket to kill the fire.

She didn’t know the furry part of the blanket can catch fire easily also. Hence, sadly, in no time, the blanket almost burst into flame. In panic, the mother tried to pull off the blanket away from her daughter.

We must know the girl was already in fire. Then with the furry blanket on her, the fire only became bigger. The blanket actually got kind of melted and got stuck onto her skin. In other words, when her mother withdrew/pulled the burnt blanket away from her, the skin literally came off together with the blanket.

Mm.. Too sad to continue…

When the girl finally recovered, her facial features were unfavourably transformed. And the uneven skin structure of the entire left side of her body was a constant reminder of her painful experience.

As if this is not bad enough…

The little girl was asked to be pulled out / withdrawn from school. The reason(s)? When she returned to school, many parents of her classmates complained to the school that their kids started having nightmare upon seeing that poor little girl.

Thinking about it.. really feels like crying.

- - - - -

Maybe, you just need to google for “fire prevention”, you will get hell lot more useful and more professional information.

End. Finally. Sorry, I am being long-winded again.