Your Fire-related Survival Skills

As you go on with your life, daily activities, you do find yourself in close vicinity with signage. Some of which is given a cursory look. Or you may not notice at all that what is written may affect you. I was on a bus going downtown and remembered a previous conversation I had with three ladies from Africa who were at different levels of adjusting their visas of stay in the US. How many have read a notice like this in a public transport vehicle?

"Information gladly given but safety requires avoiding unnecessary conversation ."

There are many small notices or cues that our aural or visual senses come across and may or may not pick up immediately. We are visited with precaution notices almost every now and then. It is a good household skill to check for lights, unlocked doors, gas valves, unlocked windows and unplugging unused appliances. This helps avoid accidents of fire or wastage of energy and heat at the domestic level. Am sure you agree, many may treat what am blogging about as something below relevancy. Or many may take this as common sense. You will be amazed at what the Fire Department can tell you about the most likely causes of say, fires in our homes! That food left on the stoves for hours on end without being watched is the cause of burning and fires! That cigarette end that has been tossed away without first extinguishing it fully! The list goes on. Also, not reading notices as well can be a cause for fires or lead to more damages after a fire.

It is good to be familiar with fire-related skills, knowledge and practices now that you are part of the community.

1. You should be familiar with emergency safety zones of your apartment building, office, school, home or building in which you enter or live. One way to find out is to read the emergency evacuation plan. See example in Figure 1.

2. You should be familiar with the evacuation procedures in case of emergencies (fires, earthquakes, floods, tornado, typhoons..). You should be aware that physical status also influences how easily one can get out of an emergency situation. In case of fire emergency use stairs. A signage giving such directions is given in figure 2.

3. You should know the exits dedicated for emergency situations. The "exit" signs are printed next to such egresses. See figure 3. 

4. A hand-held is a very common tool that many have in their cars or homes or in the lobbies to their buildings. Familiarise yourself with the operation of such a tool. Remember also, you need to know which kinds of fires can be extinguished using handheld fire extinguishers.  See figure 4, 5, 6 and 7 for more details.

5. There are 4 categories of fires: A, B, C and D.

Class A fires are common combustibles such as wood, paper, cloth, rubber and different plastics.

Class B fire hazards are flammable liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, gases, solvents, grease, oil.

Class C fire hazards are those involving live electrical equipment. Motors, appliances, energized electrical machinery, phones, video-game equipments and computers are some of the examples we come across commonly. To extinguish these, one needs non-conductive extinguisher agents.

Class D fire hazards are those involving combustible metals such as magnesium, Titanium, Zirconium and Sodium. 

6. After a fire, in buildings with automatic water sprinklers one expects wet floors. It is important that warning cones are placed in all areas to warn people. Falls follow slippery surfaces! See figure 8 for example of cones.

7. Strobe lights are useful when power has been cut off during an emergency. Make sure that they are regularly checked as well as smoke detectors. See figure 9 for example of strobe lights.

8. Know which rooms or access points that are out of bounds because of high voltage or because they are storage areas for say, propane gas. Warning signs should be placed on doors to such areas. See figure 10.

9. A water hose is a tool that you should be familiar with as well.  Look for it in your building and read instructions. See figure 11.

Figure 1: Example of Evacuation Plan. Source: Tom Mukasa

Figure 2. Using stairs signage. Source: Tom Mukasa

Figure 3. Exit sign and Exit door with emergency strobe lights. Source: Tom Mukasa

Figure 4. Handheld fire extinguisher newly inspected. Source: Tom Mukasa

Figure 5. Know the fire categories. Source: Prinzing Company

Figure 6. Know the fire categories. Source: Prinzing Company

Figure 7. Know the fire categories. Source: Prinzing Company

Figure 8. WET FLOOR Cones. Source: Tom Mukasa

Figure 9. Strobes. Source: Tom Mukasa

Figure 10. Warning signage. Source: Tom Mukasa

Figure 11. Water Hose. Source: Tom Mukasa