Fire Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fire Project - Assignment Example Foam with water belongs to a hydrocarbon surfactant and becomes biodegradable when mixed with water. The hydrocarbon surfactant has affinity for and this causes the water to penetrate upto the fire hence the increasing fire extinguishes. A thick blanket is formed by foam in water which suppresses the fire cutting it off the oxygen (Jeff & Routley, 1996). Foam bubbles adhering to fuels will cause the foam solution to remain on it where it will penetrate or evaporate, until it the fire is extinguished. The benefits of using foam to fight fire include increased firefighter safety, increased fire operation efficiency, and reduced properly damage. 3. Foam is made from Perfluorooctane sulfonate which is highly a pollutant if it escapes into the environment. Foam that diffuses into water bodies can cause death of acquatic animals. Organisms like birds and fish, mistake this compound for food and ends up dying. When these animals die the ecosystem is polluted. Plastic components from foam is a vector for pollutants that bio-accumulate in the food chain. When ingested by fish, toxic coated plastics can pollute the human food chain. 4. The dry ice has limitation in fire fighting. The carbon dioxide which is the dry ice offers little security for fire fighting since it is very light and can be blown away by wind. The gas requires large containers for storage which is cumbersome to transport during fire fighting and the containers can easily explode with the gas. When the gas is being oozed off from the container it produces a sound which can be scary, cause panic and can cause environmental pollution through sound. Lastly, the gas looks like dense white cloud which could impair visibility during fire fighting. 5. Other extinguishing fire methods include taking advantage of the weather. The rate at which fire spreads depends on the conditions of the prevailing weather conditions like wind speed, temperature and relative humidity. Extreme weather