NFPA FIRE PROTECTION HANDBOOK

ETFS 1120

DAVID MURPHY

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

HAGEN WHEELER

The 20th edition of the NFPA Fire Protection Handbook has been an ongoing book since

the early 20th century covering a wide array of topics including codes and standards and other

aspects of fire protection. The book began by a set of rules for sprinklers wrote by Everett U.

Crosby in 1895. His set of rules eventually directed to the NFPA’s first edition of the Fire

Protection Handbook. The book is constantly being revised from year to year conforming to

today’s world to be used as a teaching tool promoting fire protection and prevention.

Section one of the fire protection handbook provides the base knowledge of safety in the

environment we live in. This covers all man-made structures but is not limited to habitation or to

land. This can include ships, houses, planes, even mines and bridges. It talks about how building

safety can be affected by natural disasters and other harmful events. Chapter one provides tables

with the statistics of deaths due to environmental hazards. Section one goes on to talk about the

bases of safety issues concerning building design covering loads, forces, occupancies and other

concepts that have to be considered when safely building a structure. The concepts lead up to

codes and standards, legal issues, fire prevention. The first section achieves fire protection by

bringing up safety issues and rules to consider in the built environment.

The basics of fire and fire science section is a very interesting section to me. The section

covers the chemistry and physics of fire. The section breaks down fire and tells how it burns.

Fire protection is brought about in this section by about detecting, containing, and extinguishing

fire. Fire Heat transfer mechanisms are explained thoroughly and equations are shown for

figuring heat transfer through objects, stoichiometric mixtures and anything else you can

possibly think of. Chapter three of section two covers flammability hazard of materials.

Flammability is figured by chemical and physical composition, combustion products and many

other factors. Energy released from a fire can help determine fire growth or the amount available

to burn can.

Section 3 of the Fire Protection Handbook is an extensive overview of fire protection

combining fire investigations, databases, statistics of fire loss trends and actions taken for fire

prevention such as codes and standards put in place. Fire scenes are often examined and

sometimes even reconstructed for analysis. In the first chapter statistics are shown for leading

causes of fire. Sprinklers are mentioned as a very successful component in suppression along

with buildings designed to confine fires effectively. With the fire confined or with a sprinkler

activated evacuation is made much safer for occupants. In chapter three, NFRIS are explained as

to how they make keeping up with data and progress towards prevention possible for researchers.

NFRIS forms can help show what is going wrong with prevention and even trends when all the

statistics are put together. It is basically a record keeping system for fire data and can help with

fire modeling. Fire modeling can helpful when designing or studying fire protection systems or

even during investigations and help foresee hazards helping achieve fire protection. They can be

physical or mathematical models.

Section four focuses on human behavior. The section explains how people react during

emergencies. The section talks about how people identify there is a fire and how they evacuate.

Awareness of a fire can be by seeing actual flames, smelling smoke or alarms. Humans will react

differently according to what he/she is experiencing. Chapter two goes into detail about how

computers can be used to imitate evacuation by calculating evacuation time. Chapter four brings

up crowd management. Crowds are also an important factor to consider when thinking about

points of egress. Crowd management requires preplanning to give surety everyone will be safe in

the event of an emergency. This section achieves fire protection because knowing how humans

are going to react and calculating evacuation times are important. Also sufficient egress points

are essential to fire safety which are found in the NFPA 101.

The fifth section is about fire and life safety education and evaluating what is being

taught. Learning is characterized as a life- long process that is took in through the five senses and

is most effective when someone is paying attention. The first two chapters are focused on

educating others through different processes. The chapter tells about what materials to use and

how to present them effectively. The process is implemented in different ways depending on the

audience. Chapter three works towards educating the audience to be ready for disasters. Disasters

can include natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, tornados and even acts of terrorism. The

chapter specifically tells how to prepare during one of these events by providing examples.

Chapter four explains how to use the media to your advantage to educate the public. One must

first understand what formulates news and how to correctly communicate with the media. They

must also follow guidelines covering legal issues. Chapter five tells how to approach high risk

groups. Young children, people with disabilities and elderly people are considered high risk.

Being a mentor for juvenile fire setters is expressed through chapter six. The fire service can

make a positive difference in juveniles and this in turn can save lives. This section achieves fire

safety and protection through education. If the public is correctly educated almost all fires can be

prevented. Education is the key to prevention.

Section six is an overview of materials and products. Wood, fibers, dusts, metals,

plastics, gases are all covered. Flame retardant treatment can be applied to materials and products

and slow down or even stop combustion. It explains the hazards of smoke, liquids, solids, gases

and dust explosions. Materials are covered by how they burn, break down and how products are

tested. All combustibles can pose harm to life safety immediately as well as years down the road

when exposed to them. Chapter three proposes many different fire tests for ignition, flame

spread, smoke release, and extinction to name a few. Today combustibles are tested much more

accurately than of before the 1980’s. Fire protection is accomplished in this section by

explaining materials composition and how they react chemically and physically. Having

awareness for materials will provide the knowledge of how to face the hazards that they may

present.

Section seven shows fire protection by explaining about how materials should be

correctly stored and handled. Ignition sources should kept separate from materials to reduce

threats that could be presented. Solid fuels, liquids, and gases all have a specific way to be

stored. For example gases should be in gastight containers. Materials should be all took into

careful consideration when being handled especially around ignition sources. Disposal of waste

should also be done properly.

The eighth section covers special equipment such as draft systems, lasers and

refrigeration systems by focusing on manufacturing procedures and how they should eradicate

hazards. Specialized equipment is a lot of times crucial to businesses and is necessary for

efficient production. However fires occur all the time because of the lack of fire prevention and

safety measures took with this equipment. Fire protection is achieved through this section by

explaining special equipment and their hazards. Equipment should be monitored regularly to

help eliminate hazards.

The purpose for the first half of the ninth section covers protection for different processes

for materials like wood, plastics, metals, grain elevator design and record storage. It explains

how to protect, prevent and control fires and hazards that can occur from processes like welding,

dipping and coating processes. Chapter eight tells about options for storing records safely. The

next half of the section describes specialized facilities. Labs are discussed by describing how

they can use active or passive fire protection strategies and safe storage of chemicals and gases.

Electric generating plants, mining methods, and oxygen-enriched atmospheres are covered along

with their hazards. Nuclear plants and reactors are also explained.

Section ten brings fire protection by describing fire prevention and fire control techniques

related to building services. Heating and air conditioning systems are brought up and discussed.

This also includes ventilation systems such as chimneys and ducts. Elevators and escalators are

briefly talked about and codes for them are presented. Fire hazards for cooking ventilation and

maintenance are covered.

Section eleven achieves fire protection through prevention. The first two chapters cover

housekeeping and proper trash disposal. Processes towards building care are described with

exposure protection. Chapter four covers the dangers of construction and other operations. Static

electricity and lightening are then defined. Materials can easily be ignited or damaged by both if

not controlled.

Section twelve consists of nineteen chapters providing an outline of issues to help keep

communities safe that are relevant to the fire department. Planning processes such as pre

planning are discussed. Preplanning allows firemen to know what they are up against in the event

of a fire. Chapter four describes running fire and rescue services and legal and liability issues are

explained. Firefighter safety is described through building construction, and fire protection

systems. Chapter eleven shows the need of fire protection from the standpoint of businesses. The

section goes on to discuss resources like training centers. Apparatus is also covered.

Section thirteen provides fire protection by explaining organization and management in

the fire service. Incident command system, rescue, alternate water supplies, wildland fire, and

equations for calculating fire streams are all brought up as well as airports. The first chapter talks

about pre-planning, ICS, SOP’s and fireground operations. Alternate water sources can play a

big part in fire suppression by providing water that may be crucial in emergencies. The section

goes into depth about managing haz-mat scenes and talks about the roles of a firefighter in the

EMS world.

Fire protection is brought about in the fourteenth section by discussing the different types

of detection and alarm systems available. The section also talks about maintaining these systems.

Systems have greatly changed and improved over the years. Smoke detectors are now present in

almost all homes than that of thirty years ago. Systems are available to detect flammable and

toxic gases as well as smoke. They are also set to notify occupants and even communication

centers automatically. Systems can even work as suppression systems. Alarms and detectors

essentially save lives.

Section 15 is about water supplies for fixed fire protection. Fire protection is achieved by

proper water storage, hydraulic calculations, friction loss, ISO ratings and fire pumps. Water

supplies for sprinkler systems can be from municipal, natural or gravity fed. When pumps are

enough, fire department connections can be used to boost pressure and water supply in sprinkler

systems but the pressure should be monitored.

Section sixteen brings fire protection by giving an outline of water-based fire suppression

equipment. Different sprinkler systems are discussed by talking about their history and where

they are used. Residential sprinkler systems are a gradually growing concept. Two types of

suppression systems for explosions are covered explaining when and where they should be used.

Water spray systems are described to be used for specific equipment and focus the water onto

one area. Failure in suppression equipment is almost always due to a deficiency in maintenance.

The whole last chapter is devoted to how system failure can be prevented.

Fire suppression systems and portable fire extinguishers are discussed in section

seventeen. Different extinguishing agents are explained. Water is the main source for

extinguishment. It is readily available and relatively cheap. Aside from water, carbon dioxide can

be used as a source of extinguishment. Different foam additives can also be added to water to

make it more efficient. Portable extinguishers and their uses for different classes are covered in

chapter 5. Fire protection is achieved in this section by talking about how to use the proper

extinguishers, and the protection and prevention of explosions.

Section eighteen covers fire protection through confining fires. When a fire is properly

confined, occupants are safer and less property is damaged by the fire. Firefighters also have

more time to extinguish the fire because confinement slows the fires growth. Interior finish

materials effect how hot a fire burns and how quickly it grows adding more hazards. The

fundamentals of smoke and hazards presented by it are discussed in chapter three. Reading

smoke and knowing how it moves is crucial on the fire scene. Relieving pressure by ventilation

and sealing are discussed in the last two chapters telling why they are important what they do

and examples of them.

Fire protection in section nineteen is covered by discussing structural fire protection. The

five types of building construction are described and examples are shown with type one being

the most fire resistant. Ways of testing and determining structure integrity are all in chapter two.

The section goes on explaining fire safety in residential structures and equations for calculating

structural fire resistance are shown. Materials are also briefly discussed when calculating fire

damage.

Section twenty of the fire protection handbook discusses protecting occupancies.

Different structures are talked about from hospitals, storage, and hotels, to day cares to single

family dwellings. Fire protection in this section is achieved by focusing on egress points along

with other fire and building codes. Risk and safety evaluations should be done. Uses of sprinkler

systems in hotels and university houses are described and reducing fuel loads. Training for and

planning for evacuation is important when it comes to life safety in occupancies. Hazards of

occupancies and prevention and education are also covered in this section. Statistics of buildings

with and without suppression systems are present in this section showing the average loss

differences.

Section twenty-one starts out by covering vehicle fires. Statistics on post-collision fires

and non-collision fires are shown. It also shows that motor vehicle accident fatalities are way

down compared to that of many years ago. Different types of commercial vehicles and the

hazards they present are explained. Standards and regulations for those vehicles are covered in

chapter two. Chapter three explains the construction requirements for service stations and how

they must operate. Since they deal with storage and transfer of flammable fuels, prevention is

extremely important. Alternate fuels and vehicles are discussed in chapter four. While pollution

can be reduced by these vehicles, they can also present hazards that aren’t normal with standard

vehicles. Recreational vehicles, trains and other sorts of railway transportation are also discussed

in this section along with aviation and vessels.

In reflection of the NFPA Fire Protection handbook, it has painted a whole new picture in

my head about fire in general. There is so much more to a fire than heat, smoke and something

on fire. Not that I didn’t realize that before but, the book has brought about many more things for

me to think about when the tones go off. I think that is where we as firefighters fail. We get

complacent. We roll up on scene, grab the nozzle and make a b-line for the door often forgetting

parts of our PPE or before a 360 walk around has been done. We all need to slow down and

think. We must consider building construction, possible occupants, egress points, risk

management, and the list goes on and on. It all goes back to lack of training and education. We

must be aware of the hazards that we face on everyday basis. The Fire Protection Handbook

points out these hazards.

I have been exposed to many more job opportunities besides being a firefighter. It is also

going to be an excellent resource for finding information. While as my primary goal is to be a

fireman preferably for Charlotte or some other big city, this book will allow me to keep my

options open during the next four years. The Fire Protection Handbook will continue to make me

aware of possible jobs in the field and will give me a general idea of what that job consists of. It

will also help to plan for job interviews by allowing me to use it for a resource to gain

information about the job I am going for. Fire goes beyond it ever starting and if it can be

prevented then everyone’s lives are safer. There is a need for some sort of fire protection within

any industry that can be thought of. It doesn’t matter if you are working on a submarine or in a

hospital; fire protection is an essential element for that industry. Fire protection will always be

needed and will always be reforming and changing to better serve society.

There is so much useful information in this book on all sorts of topics. I feel like the book

is something that even beyond this paper I need to keep digging into. I will be able to use this

book as a resource for almost anything. It will be an excellent resource for any of my fire related

classes during my time at Charlotte as well as after I enter the workforce. For example if I have a

question or paper in my one of my classes about sprinklers systems, I can open my book to

section sixteen and find out almost anything I need to know on sprinkler systems and how they

operate. I could even do the same thing when preparing for a job interview. I will be able to use

this book to help me gain access to more information on fire chemistry and physics or anything

related to my classes.

I found many different things in this book that were interesting to me. I really liked the

second section; Basics of Fire and Fire Science. Fire behavior was one of my favorite classes I

took with the fire department and it has always interested me. This section goes way more in

depth than the class I took. That being said, most of it was way over my head but I love looking

at how things work. The equations shown for processes of heat transfer through conduction, and

convection were interesting to me. I also found human behavior and fire of section four very

interesting. The statistics that are shown for the two questions on 4-9 really surprised me. The

questions were “What sounds would draw your attention when sleeping?” and “What sounds

would you feel the need to investigate on awakening?” The study showed that smoke alarms

ranked very low on human’s priority list. A telephone ringing ranked higher for the first question

than a smoke alarm did. It was just kind of shocking that people do not take alarms as serious as

they should regardless of whether there is a fire present in the building or not.