Preventing fire outbreak during dry season
Fire outbreak is a sudden eruption, an outburst of flame, light and heat which is produced when something burns. It normally spreads very quickly and stretches over a large area. It can be intentional or unintentional.
One of the commonest calamities at this time of the year is fire outbreak which is mostly brought about by the wind and dryness, typical of the harmattan season. Although there are so many other causes for fire incidents at this time, the major reasons can be attributed to carelessness and ignorance.
According to the NFPA report, the top four causes of home fires and their resulting casualties are cooking, heating, electrical distribution and lighting equipment (installed wiring, outlets, switches, cords, plugs, power supplies, and lighting), and careless smoking. Though, this has much of its focus on structures such as buildings. There are fire outbreaks in farms and forests also.
There are four stages of fire development: ignition, growth, fully developed, and decay. The ignition stage is when all four elements of the fire tetrahedron coalesce, the fuels reach their ignition temperature, and the fire begins. During the growth stage, the fire increases fuel consumption and creates more heat and smoke. The fully developed stage occurs when the maximum amount of fuel and oxidizers are consumed, and the highest heat release rate is produced. The temperature decreases and intensity is reduced during the decay stage, which happens when the available fuel has been consumed.
Fire outbreak plays a key role in shaping ecosystems by serving as an agent of renewal and change. But fire can be deadly, destroying homes, wildlife habitat and timber, and polluting the air with emissions harmful to human health. Fire also releases carbondioxide, a key greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.
At this time in the villages, bush burning is a common cause of fire outbreaks. Most times, bushes that are close to homesteads are set on fire during hunting of games and wild animals, as well as cultivation. This is dangerous because most times, it extends to houses and farmlands close to these bushes.
It is important to discover ways of preventing these fire disasters in order to save lives and property. This can be facilitated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) who can help in sensitising residents on how best to check these fire outbreaks.
There are so many ways to check the break out of fire in society. For instance, it is important to improve on housekeeping culture like the bad habit of storing petroleum products in and around the home.
Most people do not switch off power supply at the main switch or control board in the incident of power failure to prevent power surge when power is restored.
So many fire outbreaks in most homes have been attributed to misuse of the candles. It would help to use more of torch lights and rechargeable lamps instead of candle light. Even if candles must be used, there are candle stands made for that purpose.
Another cause of fire outbreak is overloading electric sockets, which often times causes sparks that may lead to fire outbreaks. This should be avoided as well as the use of cell phones in the kitchen.
Another dangerous and alarming thing that causes fire outbreaks is fuelling generator sets when they are in use. This is a trend that has caused a lot of damage and should be condemned. Fuelling of generator sets should be done before use, because of its highly flammable nature.
There are three rules of preventing fires. These are: 1)Obeying local laws regarding open fires, including campfires. 2) Keeping all flammable objects away from fire. And, 3) Scrapping away leaves, twigs, and grass within a 10-foot diameter circle from fire.
Prevention, they say, is better than cure. So many lives have been lost in the past to fire outbreaks due to ignorance. That is the more reason people have fire extinguishers at home, in their cars without knowing how to make use of them.
Even while at home, appliances that are not in use should be disconnected. Just a little spark when there is a voltage surge can cause a great fire outbreak. Also, being sensitive and conscious while using some appliances is very important.
In the villages, concerted efforts should be made to educate people, especially the farmers on bush burning.
If these tips are applied, it will go a long way in checking fire outbreaks as well as mitigating its impacts.
