Chapter 6 - Fire Behavior - Chief Concepts

Front 1

_________ is a rapid chemical process that produces heat and light.

Back 1

Fire

Front 2

Matter is made up of _____ and _______.

Back 2

atoms / molecules

Front 3

Matter exists in three states:

Back 3

solid, liquid, and gas

Front 4

A _______ has definite capacity for resisting forces and under ordinary conditions retains a definite size and shape.

Back 4

solid

Front 5

A _________ assumes the shape of the container in which it is placed.

Back 5

liquid

Front 6

A _______ is a type of liquid that has neither independent shape nor independent volume, but rather tends to expand indefinitely.

Back 6

gas

Front 7

Fuels are a form of energy. Energy exists in many forms, including:

Back 7

chemical, mechanical, electrical, light, or nuclear

Front 8

_________ energy is the energy created by a chemical reaction.

Back 8

Chemical

Front 9

__________ energy is converted to heat when two materials rub against each other and create friction.

Back 9

Mechanical

Front 10

__________ energy is converted to heat energy when it flows through a conductive material. Light energy is caused by electromagnetic waves packaged in photons and travels as thermal radiation.

Back 10

Electrical

Front 11

_________ energy is stored in radioactive materials and converted to electricity by nuclear power-generating stations.

Back 11

Nuclear

Front 12

The three basic conditions needed for a fire to occur are _________, ____________ and _________. A fourth factor, a ____________ ___________ ___________, is required to maintain a self-sustaining fire.

Back 12

fuel, oxygen, and heat / chemical chain reaction

Front 13

The by-product of fire is ________ .

Back 13

smoke

Front 14

Smoke includes three major components:

Back 14

particles, vapors, and gases

Front 15

Smoke consists mainly of unburned forms of _________ fuels.

Back 15

hydrocarbon

Front 16

Fire may be spread by: (four methods)

Back 16

direct contact, conduction, convection, and radiation.

Front 17

Direct contact is a flame touching a _______.

Back 17

fuel

Front 18

____________ is the transfer of heat through matter, like heat traveling up a metal spoon.

Back 18

Conduction

Front 19

___________ is the circulatory movement that occurs in a gas or fluid.

Back 19

Convection

Front 20

___________ currents in a fire involve gases that are generated by the fire and travel along the ceiling of a room.

Back 20

Convection

Front 21

Such convection currents carry ____________ _________, which may ultimately heat flammable materials enough to ignite them.

Back 21

superheated gases

Front 22

_____________ is the transfer of heat through the emission of energy in the form of invisible waves.

Back 22

Radiation

Front 23

The four principal methods of fire extinguishment are:

Back 23

cooling the fuel, excluding oxygen, removing the fuel, and interrupting the chemical reaction

Front 24

\Fires are categorized as five classes. These classes reflect the type of fuel that is burning and the type of hazard that the fire represents. What are the 5 classes?

Back 24

Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class K

Front 25

Class ____ fires involve ordinary solid combustible materials such as wood, paper, and cloth.

Back 25

A

Front 26

Class ____ fires involve flammable or combustible liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, and motor oil.

Back 26

B

Front 27

Class _____ fires involve energized electrical equipment.

Back 27

C

Front 28

Class ____ fires involve combustible metals such as sodium, magnesium, and titanium.

Back 28

D

Front 29

Class ____ fires involve combustible cooking oils and fats in kitchens.

Back 29

K

Front 30

Most fires encountered by fire fighters involve _______fuels.

Back 30

solid

Front 31

Solid fuels do not actually burn in a solid state. Instead, they must be heated or _________ to decompose into a vapor before they will burn.

Back 31

pyrolyzed

Front 32

Solid-fuel fires develop through four phases:

Back 32

the ignition phase, the growth phase, the fully developed phase, and the decay phase.

Front 33

The _________ phase occurs as the fuel starts to burn, increasing the convection of hot gases upward.

Back 33

growth

Front 34

The _____________ phase occurs when all available fuel has ignited and heat is being produced at the maximum rate.

Back 34

fully developed

Front 35

During the _________ phase, the rate of burning slows down because less fuel is available.

Back 35

decay

Front 36

The growth of room-and-contents fires depends on the __________ of the room and the ________ of the room.

Back 36

characteristics / contents

Front 37

Synthetic products are widely used in today’s homes. The by-products of _________ _________ are not only flammable, but also toxic.

Back 37

heated plastics

Front 38

____________ ___________ is the property of gases in an enclosed space in which they form layers according to their temperature. The hottest gases travel by convection currents to the top level of the room.

Back 38

Thermal layering

Front 39

____________ is the spontaneous ignition of hot gases in the upper levels of a room.

Back 39

Flameover

Front 40

___________ is the near-simultaneous ignition of most of the exposed combustible materials in an enclosed area.

Back 40

Flashover

Front 41

____________ is caused by the introduction of oxygen into an enclosure where superheated gases and contents are hot enough for ignition but the fire does not have sufficient oxygen to cause their combustion.

Back 41

Backdraft

Front 42

Modern structures tend to be more tightly sealed, be constructed of lighter-weight materials, and contain more plastics. These characteristics can lead to a greater risk of _________ when a fire occurs in such a structure.

Back 42

backdrafts

Front 43

______________ fires require the proper mixture of fuel and air, an ignition source, and contact between the fuel mixture and the ignition.

Back 43

Liquid-fuel

Front 44

The characteristics of flammable vapors can be described in terms of _________________ and _________________.

Back 44

vapor density / flammability limits

Front 45

_________ ___________ reflects the weight of a gas compared to air.

Back 45

Vapor density

Front 46

______________ limits vary widely for different fuels.

Back 46

Flammability

Front 47

A ___________________________________ is a catastrophic explosion in a vessel containing both a boiling liquid and a vapor.

Back 47

boiling liquid/expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE)

Front 48

Assessment of ___________________________________ enables fire fighters to predict the location of a fire and its stage of development.

Back 48

smoke volume, velocity, density, and color

Front 49

__________ ____________ requires fire fighters to evaluate the effect of the building, the weather, and ventilation on the smoke.

Back 49

Smoke reading