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Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

Brave hearts Fire fighters go against the odds to save life and property

‘Fire and water are good servants, but bad masters’ – Aesop (620 BC-560 BC)Unquestionably, fire when properly harnessed, is a very useful tool. But unchecked, it can be totally devastating. For fire to sustain, it needs three elements, at least 16% oxygen, (air has 21%), a combustible substance or fuel and heat. If even one of these three elements can be taken away, the fire goes out. That is, one has to eradicate the source of fuel, drastically bring down the temperature or impede air/oxygen supply. This is where a fire extinguisher plays a crucial part. In the initial stages of a fire, using a fire-extinguisher is safer (from a judicious distance), more effective, easy to operate and can prevent extensive damage. Even if the fire is intense, an extinguisher can be used to clear a pathway out to safety.

Fires are classified as A, B, C or D (A - wood, cloth, paper, B - flammable liquids, C- flammable gases and electrical, D- Chemical fires) types or combinations, and accordingly the specific extinguisher is to be used. For household purposes, where chemical fires are rare, the ‘ABC extinguisher’, typically suffices for most common types of fires. To serve this need, there is a new entrant in the market, imported from Korea, ‘Power Punch-119’ is a small beer-can sized powerful extinguisher targeted for A, B, C & Electrical fires. This small and only 300 gm in weight, aerosol spray can is packed with an environmentally friendly (reinforced K2CO3) agent. This works as an extinguishment for small and early fires, like in the kitchen, automobile, office and generally around the house. This is currently marketed by ‘Tristar Fire Protection’ (opposite Hotel Daspalla Executive Court, Visakhapatnam) and soon to be available in HPCL outlets. Accidents can never be predicted, and prompt action in the initial stages is critical to minimise or even avert large scale destruction. Fore-warned is forearmed. A system to detect smoke and fire is a powerful first line of defence against the threat of a fire. For which there are ‘smoke detectors’, ‘heat detectors’ and ‘heat-cum-smoke detectors’. Powered by the mains and battery-backed, these sense heat or discern smoke and sound a loud alarm, giving adequate time to exit, call for help and wait for assistance, or carefully investigate the source. These are easy to install and not prohibitively expensive, but they do not put out any flames. For large areas, and for false ceilings, a series of detectors in tandem is more dependable. With the city growing so fast and buildings mushrooming all over, it’s time to bring about an awareness about fire safety. The interior designers and architects need to seriously incorporate correct fire-safety and prevention measures in their designs and implement them without any compromise. The challenge is to work their magic around the basic safety measures, and not at the cost of it. And after that, the occupant should ensure that all the systems are in working order and the personnel on hand knows how to respond and use the fire-safety devices. A disaster is never planned, but its after-effects can be minimised with due precaution and care.

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