One of the first things taught in a Fire Safety Training course is how a fire starts. Knowing how fires start can considerably increase awareness of potential hazards and also helps in providing an understanding as to how fire extinguishers work.

In order for a fire to start, there needs to be sufficient quantities of three elements in place - fuel, oxygen and heat. Once a fire has started, removal of any of these three elements will cause the fire to extinguish. The term for this is the ‘Fire Triangle’.  Recently, this has largely been replaced in the industry by the term ‘fire tetrahedron’ which takes into consideration the ignition or combustion process.

Fuel

Without fuel a fire will stop. Fuel can be removed naturally, where by the fire has consumed all the burnable fuel, or manually, by mechanically or chemically removing the fuel from the fire. Sources of fuel include:

Petrol
Paraffin/kerosene
Alcohol
Oil
Paint
Wood / paper / card
Plastics - most plastics will release toxic smoke during combustion
Metals - some metals are flammable, although usually very high temperatures are required
Dust - airborne particles which can be highly explosive
Materials/clothing/upholstery - present virtually everywhere, these can produce toxic smoke

Oxygen

When there is a lack of oxygen, a fire cannot begin nor can it continue. Oxygen can be removed from a fire by dousing it with foam, spraying it with inert gas, dry chemicals (powder) or by enclosing the fire in an area where all the available oxygen will be used up. Imagine using a candle snuffer on a burning candle, instantly the candles source of oxygen has been removed and therefore the flame will go out.

Heat

Without sufficient heat a fire cannot begin nor can it continue. Heat can be removed by dousing some fires with water; the water turns to steam taking the heat with it. However, it is worth noting that adding water to some types of fire (i.e. combustible metal fires) can have the reverse affect and can cause the fire to spread. That is why it is extremely important to use the correct type of fire extinguisher depending on what type of fire it is you are tackling.

The next article on ‘good housekeeping’ will offer further guidance on ways to reduce the risk of a fire.

Cardiff’s fire fighters had to skip breakfast this morning as they got an early call reporting a rubbish fire, which in the end turned out to be a building fire at the Royal Mail sorting office. Fire fighters were called to the Royal Mail centre on Penarth Road at 8.50am, after the blaze broke out in a loading bay near the delivery office just outside the Royal Mail depot’s main building.

Four fire engines attended the scene and two water bowsers were used to bring the fire under control. The fire damaged a few Royal Mail vans parked nearby but no one was injured, all 150 workers were evacuated safely and sent home for the day.

Royal Mail said customers in the CF10, CF11 and small parts of CDF23 and CF24 postal areas will have their mail delivered as soon as post men are able to get into the building again. Business mail is thought to be unaffected and collections will take place with an earlier final posting time of between 3:30pm and 4:30pm. General Manager for south and west Wales, Mr Paul Kelly said:

“We’ve had a major fire here at the sorting office this morning. Services will be disrupted this morning. We will not be delivering any post around Cardiff this morning.”

He also said they were in touch with their Swansea office and would be contacting colleagues at Bristol and Gloucester for assistance.