Fire Prevention and Protection

EN531 is a European standard for electrical safety and NFPA 70E is a US standard for electrical safety.

The standards do deal with very similar procedures but in order for garments to meet the EN531 standard they have to be tested by the qualifying associations.

Not all manufacturers will do this because there is a very high costs to the testing and it really comes down to where the products are sold to justify the testing costs.

EN 531 is also an obsolete European Standard for workwear flammability tests.

Luminous signs are easier to find when there is an emergency.

Normally it is filled with compressed air.

A dry sprinkler system is used in areas exposed to temperatures that would freeze water.

When a fire is sensed the soft metal link of a sprinkler head melts , releases the compressed air which in turn opens a valve to a fire main allowing the system to flood with water and extinguish the fire.

Parking ramps in the northern US have dry systems, for example, because of the weather.

The term "supervisory switch" in fire protection typically refers to switches that are used to signal the status of important settings, such as when a control valve is opened or a mechanical interlock is in an unsafe position.

A supervisory signal would result in a "fault" indication on a fire alarm control panel, if not also a specific "zone", functional reference or location for the switch.

The primary factors in the calculation are: the type of occupancy, along with the available floor space and the available means of egress.

When creating or modifying a building, the building use and occupancy load determine the fire resistance requirements. Or the desired type and occupancy load may help determine the necessary area and means of egress.

Buildings are classified by the ICC (International Code Council) by group and division.

Groups - defined

Group A - Assembly

Group B - Business

Group E - Educational

Group F - Factory and Industrial

Group H - Hazardous

Group I - Industrial

Group M - Mercantile

Group R - Residential

Group S - Storage

Group u - Utility

Each group mostly has more than one division, categorized by number; I.E.

Group A Division 1 , which is the most stringent category for fire resistant materials and means of egress code rules, is more stringent than Group A

Division 4.

Like wise , Group U Division 2, which is the lowest requirements is less stringent

than Group U Division 1 requirements.

In summary, the lower the letter and number, the more stringent are the fire

resistive , and means of egress components.

To know the fire resistive construction and means of egress requirements of your building, consult the building code book for your state ; which may supersede

the I.C.C.

To be absolutely sure ,consult with your local building department with information about what kind of use the building is intended for , how big of an occupancy intended , and whether or not it is connected or near to another business of same or different classification.

Fire prevention officer qualifications do not usually include any college-level courses. Fire-prevention ENGINEERING may require extensive college work.

No, Smokey Bear is a trademark of the USDA Forest Service, although it is also used by other agencies for similar safety messages on occasion.

Commercial use is administered by the Chief of the Forest Service, in the US Department of Agriculture, under the rules at 36 CFR § 271.

Reproduction, manufacture or importation other than § 271 authorization is prohibited under § 261.22. Penalties may be up to $500 fine and 6 months in prison, under § 261.1b.

Fire resistance refers to the durability of the material under fire conditions, such as a wall, floor or windows, which may prevent the spread of fire.

Fire protection refers to the combination of systems that prevent fire from occurring or spreading, which could include fire resistant materials as well as sprinkler systems, separation of hazards, fire extinguishers, alarms, and so forth.

No. William Robinson originally got Smokey from "Smokey Joe", a nickname given to him by one of his uncles because of his love for cowboy movies. This was later shortened to "Smokey".

Fire doors should never be propped open (with a fire extinguisher or anything else) because it will defeat the purpose of having fire and smoke separation during a fire.

A self-closing fire door must be allowed to function properly for safety of the occupants who may need the extra time to safely escape through other exit doors.

It would be a fire-code violation to prop open a fire door, which could result in fines or other discipline.

Yes, but he does not talk or put out fires.

You don't want your dryer venting into an enclosed space. That will just trap the dust, lint and humidity there where it can cause wood to rot and rampant mold growth. Dryers need to be vented to the outdoors.

A fire damper isolates and area by using a fusable link that will melt at a specific temperature that then aallows a dampoer to close to either isolate a room, area or HVAC duct. The damper is located when duct passes through a fire rated wall or for a return air opening.

It depends on the temperature rating of the particular bulb, but all bulbs are filled with aproprietary glycerin liquid.

A fire inspector is a person who examines plans or structures to determine if they meet applicable fire codes and other laws. They may be state, county or municipal employees or may work for a private company, such as an insurance underwriter or other investigators.

The types of duties vary greatly, depending upon whether it is a public or private employer, whether it is in a fire service or building department, and other factors.

Fire sprinkler systems are effectively already zoned - you don't need to do anything special. When your fire sprinkler system detects a fire, it doesn't set off all the sprinkler heads at once. Instead, each fire sprinkler head goes off when the temperature underneath it reaches a specific temperature, meaning only the ones affected by the fire will go off.

the Path of Egress in a building is a predetermined path for the occupant of the building to help them evacuate in the presence of a hazardous or emergency situation. usually a mixture of exit signs to indicate the path to the occupants, and emergency lighting to light the path in case of a power outage.

The egress includes: exit access, protected exits (horizontal or stairs) and exit discharge to a public way, all of which must be available and unobstructed, if not also lit.

There is a suction line on every apparatus with a pump. The engineer, who drives the rig, connects this line to the hydrant and to the pump suction. Some equipment has this line pre-connected to the pump inlet.

In many fire hydrant systems there is enough pressure to fill and pressurize an ordinary hose (of large diameter) running from the hydrant to the pumper truck's inlet. That way, there is very little "suction" required in the pump, since the water is already being delivered with some amount of pressure.

If it is "dry hydrant" with no pressure, then suction is required.

Edit: Typically it is a Firefighter that 'snubs' the hydrant, not the Engineer. It is the Engineer's job to 'Position' the apparatus before transferring the engine into 'Pump' (typically, once the apparatus engine is transferred to 'Pump', it is stationary throughout the incident). There are different options for water 'Intake', they can be long leads whereby a supply line can be a smaller diameter (2 1/2") or a 'Short Sleeve' (4") direct to pump diameter where the Pumper is 'Positioned' close to the hydrant snubbed. There are also situational logistics which require two Pumpers (or more) to 'Relay' a supply line due to the fact that the total amount of hose on a given Pumper is less then the distance from the fire to the hydrant. It is the Engineer's job to figure out what pressure is incoming from the supply line and the amount of nozzle pressure required for firefighting at the nozzle. This determines what pressure you need to be pumping at. This pumping pressure must take into consideration elevation, friction loss of pressure in the amount of hose laid out, etc. It can be a life or death calculation for the Firefighter at the nozzle's fighting end which could very well be 40 stories above the Engineer manning the pump.

Yes, there is a well-defined standard for "water-mist" sprinkler systems for protection of electrical transformers and switch-gear, including required minimum spacing according to the voltages present.

A pre-action system would generally contain the same fluids as any other sprinkler system for those conditions. The "pre-action" merely refers to the method of triggering fluid pressurization prior to activating individual heads.

wide enough to fit alot of people through at the same time

Various building codes and life-safety codes specify the minimum widths, locations and numbers necessary for safe evacuation of occupants from a structure.

As a general rule, the number, type and size of fire exits are determined by the type of occupancy, number of occupants, hazard class, building type and building height.

Special rules apply where there are high hazards or high occupancy loads. For example, under NFPA 101, a newly constructed nightclub may be required to have a "main entrance" capable of handling 2/3 of the allowed occupant load, in addition to any other required exits.

I'll almost guarantee that it didn't come from the factory in this condition but some amateur gunsmith has taken it apart and put something in backward, upside down, or sideways. And even if it was a "factory flaw", it would not make it more valueable. Instead, it will reduce the value at least by the cost of having it repaired. Firearms collectors don't want errors, they want perfection.