Fire and prevention

A fire can occur any time of the year under any condition however this time of the year due to circumstances such as wind, dry material etcetera, the possibility of a fire is extremely higher especially rural fires.
There must be enough heat to start a fire and heat generated to keep it burning, once a rural fire starts burning, it’s generally rapid and continuous. There are many factors that affect rural fire behavior. The three most important are fuel, heat and oxygen.
Fuel (material):
All rural vegetation is potential fuel, every bush, tree, grass and field crop contribute to the vast supply of fuel. Because of the variety of fuels and their changing condition, the degree of flammability tends to fluctuate. Fuel can be grouped according to their position on the ground or in the air under the following groups:
Ground fuel:
This type of fuel include small twigs, leaves and needles that compose and is generally known as ground litter. Fires in these fuels are often deep seated and their smoldering characteristics make them difficult to extinguish. Extra care should be taken with these fires because they tend to be extinguished only to resurface later and continue to burn.
Surface fuel:
This includes grass, field crops, bushes, small trees and other low vegetation. Also heavy limbs, down logs, twigs and leaves.
Crown fuels:
Crown fuels are physically separated from grounds and surface fuels to the extend that air can circulate around the fuel particles causing them to burn more rapidly.
The size of the fuel determine their ease to ignite and rate of burning. Fires involved large volumes of fuel will release a tremendous amount of heat that make control of fires difficult and requires large amounts of water to extinguish.
The following factors influence rural fire behavior, namely temperature, wind, humidity and precipitation.
Fires are classified according to their chemical characteristics and the type of fuel involved.
Class A Fires: These fires are fueled by wood, fabrics and paper.
Class B Fires: These fires are fueled by flammable liquids and gasses such as petrol, oil, paraffin, benzene and gasses as propane, etc.
Class C Fires:
All electrical fire been classified as C Class fires such as a default in wiring that cause a short and start a fire.
Class D Fires:
These fires are similar with chemicals involved and required special equipment and procedures to be extinguished.
Objective:
To eliminate all surface fires as quick as possible and to prevent unnecessary damage to property, people, fauna and flora.
Steps to follow where buildings are involved:
Set off the alarm; if there is no power or alarm use every other means available to raise an alarm; locate the fire and obtain assistance to extinguish it or keep it under control; obtain the closest fire brigade number and telephone immediately; make sure the building is evacuated; ensure people don’t panic; direct all people to an assembly point; nominate a person to take roll call of people present; inspecting the building and ensure no one are inside; close all doors; people evacuating the building to remove their personal belongings; people trained to fire fighting must render assistance to extinguish the fire; all people remain at the assembly point; allowing all entrances such as doors and roadways to be clear; no one to re enter the building before declare safe by the fire chief; remove all vehicles from the scene of the fire; if necessary call other fire brigades to assist.
Important things to remember: Close all windows; switch off all lights; unplug all electrical equipment; close the door; walk; do not run; never use water on an electrical fire you could get electricuted; never use water on flammable liquid fires as oil, petrol etc water could cause the fuel to spread rapidly and explode back to you.
For any further information please contact Herman Barnard from the Thabazimbi Fire Protection association on 0147722628 or 0823356411.