Not just what and how, but why!
The first post in this series, Reading the Fire: How to Improve Your Skills, I discussed building a concept map of fire behavior indicators as a method to increase competence in reading the fire. In the 12 posts that followed, we have explored each of the categories of the B-SHAF organizing scheme by developing a … Read more
The previous post in this series, Reading the Fire: Flame Indicators briefly looked at flames, the visible, light-emitting product of combustion and identified several basic categories of flame related fire behavior indicators as illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1. Basic Flame Indicators As with each of the B-SAHF (building, smoke, air track, heat, and flame) … Read more
In Reading the Fire: How to Improve Your Skills, I discussed building a concept map of fire behavior indicators as a method to increase competence in reading the fire. Construction of a concept map increases awareness of key indicators and understanding their interrelationships. I am working through this process along with you, with the latest … Read more
Reading the Fire Heat Indicators briefly examined energy, temperature, and heat in thermodynamic systems, and introduced the two major categories of heat related fire behavior indicators: those that we can see (visual) and others that can be felt (tactile) as illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1. Basic Heat Indicator Categories Heat Indicators Part 2 elaborated … Read more
As discussed in prior Reading the Fire posts and the ongoing series examining fire behavior indicators (FBI) using the B-SAHF (Building, Smoke, Air Track, Heat, and Flame) organizing scheme, developing proficiency requires practice. This post provides an opportunity to exercise your skills using three video segments shot during a commercial fire. In addition to practicing … Read more
Reading the Fire Heat Indicators briefly examined energy, temperature, and heat in thermodynamic systems, and introduced the two major categories of heat related fire behavior indicators: those that we can see (visual) and others that can be felt (tactile) as illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1. Basic Heat Indicator Categories As with each of the … Read more
In Reading the Fire: How to Improve Your Skills, I discussed building a concept map of fire behavior indicators as a method to increase competence in reading the fire. Construction of a concept map increases awareness of key indicators and understanding their interrelationships. I am working through this process along with you, with the latest … Read more
Air track includes factors related to the movement of smoke out of the compartment or building and the movement of air into the fire. Air track is caused by pressure differentials inside and outside the compartment and by gravity current (differences in density between the hot smoke and cooler air). Air track indicators include velocity, … Read more
In Reading the Fire: How to Improve Your Skills, I discussed building a concept map fire of behavior indicators as a method to increase competence in reading the fire. Construction of a concept map increases awareness of key indicators and understanding their interrelationships. I am working through this process along with you, with the latest … Read more
In many cases, smoke may provide the dominant indication that there is a fire in the building (but keep in mind that if you can see smoke on the exterior, there are also air track indicators). Have a look at Figure 1 and see what smoke indicators you observe. Figure 1. Smoke Indicators Note: Terry … Read more