How do fire fighters use science?

Answer 1

Smaller forest fires can be put out by spraying water in the right places. Large fires are usually put out by a combination of methods which can include dumping large amounts of water from an aircraft and various ways of cutting off the burning part from the fuel source. This can be in the form of cutting trees to create a gap that fire cannot cross, digging ditches to prevent fire from spreading over ground cover, and sometimes even using a controlled burn to do the same things.

Answer 2

Forest fires may be many miles from any road. It would be impossible to move any sort of "fire extinguisher" to such fires. They are controlled by separating the unburned fuel from the fire, using fire line. They may be assisted with a small supply of water, which is used to cool the fire (steam removes heat). Water can be supplied by helicopters, pumps and relay tanks, or by backpack pumps.

Sometimes wildfires are slowed down or stopped by using airborne water or fire retardant drops from airplanes or helicopters directly over the fire.

Fires near the urban interface can be effectively put out using water from fire hydrants or pumped from other sources.

Answer 3

Firefighters use science in several ways, perhaps the most obvious beening during the task of extinguishing the fire. In simple terms, fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel, whether that fuel is paper or gasoline. Heat applied to the fuel releases gases from the fuel, which when mixed with the right amount of oxygen in the air and the previously applied heat, causes fire. Firefighters simply remove one of the components needed to sustain fire from the equation - either remove the heat (usually with water and ventilation), remove the fuel (less common), or remove the oxygen (which is what is occurring when you see firefighters using foam to fight a fire).

Answer 4

Firefighters use math to fight forest fires, by estimating the amount of water they would need to cover the amount of square miles that the fire is.