If you've ever been in the unlucky position where you've experienced a fire firsthand, you know exactly what a devastating and traumatic event that can be. You may have questioned, after the fact, "Where did that fire come from anyway?" While there are many sorts of items that can be the impetus for a fire, a few distinct parts of the fire puzzle need to be present if a blaze is really going to have a life of its own. While you may feel blessed to just escape with your life, knowing precisely how a fire acts and grows can help you stop one in the future.
For a fire to start and grow in strength, the equation is simple: heat + oxygen + fuel. If you remove just one of those items, a fire will die out. Think of the times when you may have been camping or making a fire in the fireplace or firepit. You need to strike the match or flick the lighter to ignite the fire (that's heat). Then, the fire needs to fed with materials to burn - paper, cardboard, twigs, logs, kindling, etc. (that's fuel). Once your fire is burning and you want to put it out, you smother it with water or sand (that's removing the oxygen).
For a fire to have its own life, those items must be present. If you subtract any of them, the fire will die. That first stage when the fire begins is called ignition. The next stage is called flamespread. That's when the flames rapidly spread over the surfaces that are next to them. As the fire grows in strength, the things that have been ignited give off more violate gas, which actually provides more fuel to the fire and strengthens it.
The next stage following flamespread is flashover. Flashover happens when air and gas reach their maximum points, and the flames just burst out in every direction. When this happens, the fire is no longer contained to what was previously burning.
Once flashover happens, the fire continues in a steady burn, consuming everything in its way, which is the last stage: total combustion.
Now that we know the life cycle of a fire, let's talk prevention. Flameproofing is a primary method for containing a fire. When items have been treated with flame repellents, 2 of the 3 elements in the equation are subtracted (fuel and oxygen). When the fire (heat) comes in contact with the items that have soaked or coated in flameproofing chemicals, nitrogen and carbon dioxide are emitted. When this happens, the carbon dioxide makes a carbon char - a non-combustible barrier. This separates oxygen from the treated materials. The nitrogen is also important here because it displaces the oxygen, which, we know - a fire can't live unless oxygen is present.
This buffer zone created by the carbon char protects the material and also stops fueling the fire. On top of that, toxic gases that cause major harm from smoke inhalation are trapped in that area, giving people a chance to evacuate without inhaling those poisonous gases.
When you know how the life cycle of a fire works, while it doesn't guarantee that there won't ever be one, it helps you remove factors that can cause it. Flameproofing is one of those effective prevention methods that can truly lessen damage as well as reduce the spread and severity of a fire.
The professionals at Bronx Flameproofing are experts in the flameproofing field, and we would be pleased to serve your business. If you have questions or flameproofing needs, we are here to help. Give us a call today, and we can also offer you a free, no-obligation quote as well: 800-594-0117