Fire Triangle Safety Training

The fire triangle is used to understand the elements needed for a fire to start and to be extinguished. The triangle is a 3D, three-sided pyramid. Heat, fuel and oxygen each occupy one side of the triangle, and chemical change occupies the base.

Identification - Heat

• The temperature of a lit match is approximately 1,100 degrees.

  Heat can come from a flame, spark, burning embers or lightning. If it produces enough heat to bring the fuel to its ignition temperature, it will ignite and burn. Paper ignites at 451 degrees F; gasoline ignites at -50 degrees F.

Oxygen

• We have a ready supply of oxygen all around us.

  Fuel will not burn without oxygen. Ironically, oxygen is all around us. If gasoline is the fuel source, the best way to stop it from burning is to smother it. Water alone can't cool the gas below its ignition temperature. Adding foam solution to the water smothers the gas, breaking the triangle.

Fuel

• Paper burns easily and gives off a lot of heat.

  Fuel can be anything that burns. If the fuel reaches its ignition temperature, it will ignite and burn. Cooling the fuel source below its ignition temperature breaks the triangle. Fuel sources like gasoline can't be cooled below their ignition point.

Chemical Change

• Gases that are released by the chemical change are what burn.

  As a fuel is heated, it begins a chemical change. The fuel starts to decompose and gives off gases. Once the ignition temperature is reached, the fuel ignites. The chemical change happens more rapidly now. The fuel continues to burn until it has been consumed or the triangle is broken.

Prevention/Solution

• Fire will continue to consume available fuel until one side of the triangle is removed.

  One side of the triangle must be removed to extinguish a fire. Cooling a fire with water is the most widely used method to remove heat. Oxygen is removed by smothering a fire; preventing oxygen from reaching the fuel and heat.