Structural fires damage commercial properties and cause many losses in people’s lives and property. Proper structural fire protection is essential because they prevents fire and smoke from spreading throughout the building (Kodur et al., 2020). This helps to contain the damage in the building and ensures an ample window for the inhabitants in the building to be evacuated. Even with the structural fire protection mechanism built into a building, there is always a need to involve a company that will help extinguish the fire in case of a fire outbreak. Fire has destroyed many structures when the fire department hesitates to attack the fire promptly. The biggest responsibility of a fire company is limiting the spread of fire.
Involving a fire company can implement an offensive attack that will help attack fire quickly since the firefighters can maximize their control efforts. When firefighters initiate the offensive attack, they deliver water to the bottom of the fire, which makes it easier for them to make rescues under the protection of the hose line crews (Smith, 2020). The attack is made once the firefighters establish that the structure is safe to go inside; hence, they attack the inside and outside. In structural fires where no civilian life is endangered, firefighters can use hose lines to extinguish the fire. The operation of this hose line must ensure that the fire in the lower floor is contained before being operated on the upper floor. The size of the fire dictates the number of hose lines that the firefighters can require.
While in the structure, the firefighters also have to watch the ventilations and make good coordination with them. This will be important because opening up a closed room with fire to a fresh oxygen supply can cause a flashover or a backdraft. This would then cause a big explosion that can cause more damage to the building. Proper ventilation will also help check on smoke explosions, which can cause more fire and damage to the building. Therefore, having proper ventilation while putting up a fire will help contain the fire.
If the fire is very explosive, the firefighters can use defensive attacks. The firefighters are able to put off the fire by setting large exterior fire streams between the exposures and to prevent it from extending to other structures (Kodur et al., 2020). This happens when the fire is too big to be controlled by the hose lines. Embracing this approach is safer because no people are getting into the building to extinguish fire with the possibility of collapsing.
The worst thing the fire company could do is let the fire spread to nearby structures. The firefighters need to be watchful of where the fire is tending to go and work to prevent it from spreading in that direction. They should know what is causing fire to go in a specific direction. They should then be watchful of the inflammability of the materials of the nearby structures. If the structures have materials that burn easily, then they have to ensure that they put a stream on the side of the burning structure to prevent fire from spreading to the building.
Another worst thing they could do is make the structure go from a stable to a very unstable state. They have to be cautious of the terrain of the building. In most cases, the firefighters will use water to put off the fire, and this water will leak into the ground and cause the ground to be unstable, especially if the building is on a steep slope. If the firefighters are not able to check on the terrain of the building, they are likely to worsen the situation when the building becomes unstable.
References
Kodur, V., Kumar, P., & Rafi, M. M. (2020). Fire hazard in buildings: review, assessment and strategies for improving fire safety. PSU Research Review, 4(1), 1-23.
Smith, J. P. (2020). Fire Studies: Structural Firefighting—The Offensive Attack
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