Subject Fire Behavior and Combustion
For this assignment, watch the video below. The video illustrates a flashover in the mid-80s. Although it is an
older video, it shows a narrow wood-frame structure where a salamander kerosene heater in the hallway started a fire that
developed from ignition to a fully-developed fire after a flashover. Please do not critique the tactics or the protective
clothing worn in that era. However, focus on the combustion as an exothermic chemical reaction between a fuel (wood
frame structure with wood bead board interior and kerosene) and an oxidizer, resulting in the generation of substantive
heat that lead to a flashover.
FIR 3301, Fire Behavior and Combustion 4
Background
It was a cold winter night with temperatures dropping in the low 30s. The homeowner was using a salamander
kerosene heater, which was common for that time, to stay warm. During the morning he turned off the heat and
filled the heater with more kerosene. As he filled the heater, some kerosene spilled on the wood floor. The heat
from the heater burning all night cause the fuel to vaporize more than usual on a cold day, and when he lit the
heater it flashed, igniting the spilled kerosene. Within three minutes from time of dispatch, the Orlando Fire
Department was on the scene with an engine company and a truck company. The truck company split into two
crews (inside and outside) to perform truck functions. The engine crews were just making entry into the structure
(about 2 feet inside the front door) when the flashover occurred.
Click here to access the video clip. https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/courses/Emergency_Services/FIR/FIR3301/14B/UnitIV_Video.mp4
Apply what you learned from the video using concepts from Chapters 7, 8, and 12 to describe the fire. Discuss what led to
the flashover. For example, was there enough heat generated by the combustion (oxidation) process to ignite other
materials. If so, at what point? Was there fire plume under the ceiling? Was there filling of the fire compartment by
smoke? What was the smoke flow from the compartment regarding any opening? What was the smoke movement?
Summarize your responses in a minimum of two pages in length.
To supplement your discussion and support your conclusions, you may use information from reputable, reliable journal
articles, case studies, scholarly papers, and other sources that you feel are pertinent. All sources used, including the
textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations in proper APA style.
The purpose of this assignment is for you to apply the concepts and knowledge you learned in this unit on the surveillance
of the stages of fire in the video.
One source must be from Course Text Book: Gann, R., & Friedman, R. (2015). Principles of fire behavior and combustion (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett.
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