50 Fun Facts About Fire Safety

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, what is by far the leading cause of home fires?

Unattended equipment is the biggest single factor, which is why the advice is simply to stand by your pan.

A pan on the stove catches fire. What does the U.S. Fire Administration say to cover it with?

Sliding a lid over the pan cuts off the oxygen; a stream of water on burning oil scatters the fuel and spreads the flames.

Once a smoke alarm sounds, the US Fire Administration says you may have under how long to get out?

That is why the advice is to find two ways out of every room and pick an outside meeting place in advance.

How often does the U.S. Fire Administration say you should test your smoke alarms?

Pressing the test button is enough; the whole unit should be replaced every 10 years from its manufacture date.

After how many years does the U.S. Fire Administration say an entire smoke alarm unit should be replaced?

The NFPA has required the ten-year replacement since 1999; the sensors degrade even if the battery is fresh.

Where does the U.S. Fire Administration say smoke alarms belong?

A closed bedroom door slows smoke and heat, which is exactly why an alarm is needed on both sides of it.

Ionization smoke detectors ionize the air using a small amount of which radioactive isotope?

Ionization units respond faster to flaming fires, while photoelectric detectors catch slow, smouldering fires sooner.

Which type of smoke detector responds faster to a fire in its early, smouldering stage?

Optical detectors see the large smoke particles a smouldering fire produces, so many homes now use dual-sensor alarms.

The first low-cost smoke detector for home use was developed in 1965 by Duane Pearsall and whom?

Homes with working detectors suffer less than half the deaths per fire of homes without them, by NFPA figures.

Which three things make up the classic fire triangle?

The fire tetrahedron adds a fourth side, the chemical chain reaction, and removing any one of them puts the fire out.

What does the fire tetrahedron add to the three sides of the fire triangle?

Some extinguishing agents work by interrupting that reaction rather than by cooling or smothering.

Under the US system, which letter designates fires involving hot oils and fats in the kitchen?

Europe and Australia call the same category Class F; a solid stream of water should never be used on it.

Class D fires involve which kind of material?

Alkali metals like lithium and sodium can react violently with water, so these fires need special dry-powder agents.

Why is a carbon dioxide extinguisher not intended for Class A fires like wood and paper?

CO2 units are the usual choice for electrical fires because they leave nothing behind.

The first fire extinguisher of which there is any record was patented in England in 1723 by whom?

Captain George Manby demonstrated the first portable pressurised extinguisher, the 'Extincteur', in 1816.

Fire Prevention Week in the US and Canada is always the week containing which date?

The date commemorates the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and the NFPA has sponsored the week since President Coolidge proclaimed the first one in 1925.

Which president proclaimed the first National Fire Prevention Week, in 1925?

The non-profit NFPA picks a new theme for the week each year.

The Great Chicago Fire is said to have started in a barn belonging to which family?

The barn stood behind 137 W. DeKoven Street; the fire destroyed 17,000 structures and left more than 100,000 people homeless.

On the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, an even deadlier blaze consumed which Wisconsin town?

It killed between 1,200 and 2,500 people, several times Chicago's toll, yet is far less remembered.

Which fire-safety mascot was authorized as the U.S. Forest Service's official symbol on August 9, 1944?

In 1950 a real orphaned cub rescued after the Capitan Gap fire in New Mexico became the living symbol.

In 2001, the Forest Service's bear mascot had 'forest fires' in his slogan replaced with what?

The change reflected fires breaking out in grasslands and other natural areas, not only forests.

Sparky the Fire Dog, the NFPA's mascot created in 1951, is what breed?

He appears dressed in firefighting gear and fronts Fire Prevention Week each October.

'Stop, drop and roll' puts out flames on clothing mainly by doing what?

It is taught to children, emergency crews and industrial workers, and is most useful when flames are on the back.

How far does the U.S. Fire Administration say anything flammable should be kept from a space heater or fireplace?

Heating equipment was the second leading cause of home fires in 2021, and heaters should be switched off when you leave the room or go to bed.

How far from anything that burns does the U.S. Fire Administration say a lit candle should be kept?

On average 20 home candle fires are reported every day in the US, which is why flameless battery candles are recommended in bedrooms.

Per the US Fire Administration, roughly what share of Christmas tree fires are electrical?

The advice is to water the tree every day, keep it 3 feet from heat sources and throw out light strands with frayed wires.

Which appliances does the US Fire Administration say must never be plugged into an extension cord?

An extension cord feeding a major appliance can overheat; failure to clean lint was the top factor in dryer fires from 2018 to 2020.

Where does the U.S. Fire Administration say used lithium-ion batteries should go?

Warning signs of a failing battery include odour, colour change, swelling, heat, leaking or odd noises.

Carbon monoxide is dangerous partly because it is what?

It comes from incomplete combustion, so blocked chimneys, space heaters and a car or grill run inside a garage are common sources.

Can a standard smoke detector be relied on to detect carbon monoxide?

CO detectors are meant to be installed in each sleeping area, and 32 US states had CO-detector statutes by 2017.

In a wet-pipe sprinkler system, what makes an individual sprinkler open?

Each head activates independently, so a fire in one room does not soak the whole building the way movies suggest.

Who improved Henry Parmalee's design and patented the automatic sprinkler that bears his name in 1881?

Sprinkler heads are held shut by a heat-sensitive glass bulb or a fusible metal link that gives way at the design temperature.

The first 911 emergency call in the United States was made in 1968 in which state?

The call was placed in Haleyville; the UK's 999 service had been running since 1937.

Which country introduced the world's first national emergency telephone number, 999, in 1937?

The number is still in use today.

Which 1903 Chicago fire led to rules that public-building doors open outward with panic bars?

With 602 deaths it remains the worst theatre fire in US history, and it also brought clearly marked exits and fire curtains.

The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York led to new laws requiring which of the following?

Locked stairwell doors trapped workers; Frances Perkins, who led the resulting safety committee, later became US Secretary of Labor.

The Great Fire of London in 1666 broke out in a bakery on which street?

The fire gave rise to the first fire insurance companies, whose private firemen eventually evolved into the London Fire Brigade.

Under NFPA 291, a fire hydrant with blue caps indicates what?

Red marks the weakest hydrants, and the term 'fire plug' comes from firefighters drilling and then plugging wooden water mains.

Why do fire hydrants use a pentagonal operating nut?

In snowy areas hydrants also get tall flags or signs so crews can find them under drifts.

The global 'running man' exit sign was designed in 1979 by Yukio Ota in which country?

It became an ISO standard in 1987; US exit signs can be red or green but have traditionally been red.

On the NFPA 704 'fire diamond', which colour quadrant rates flammability?

Blue is health, yellow is reactivity and white carries special hazard codes, each on a 0-to-4 scale.

Flashover, the near-simultaneous ignition of most combustibles in a room, typically occurs at what temperature?

Flashover is heat-driven; a backdraft is oxygen-driven, when air rushes into a starved room full of superheated gases.

Small kitchen fire blankets are usually made from which material?

The blanket works by cutting off the oxygen supply, and can also be wrapped around a person whose clothes have caught fire.

What does the strip fitted around the edge of a fire door do when exposed to heat?

Fire doors are rated in 20-, 30-, 45-, 60- and 90-minute grades and are designed to be kept closed.

The first modern fire escape was patented in 1887 by whom?

External fire escapes fell out of use in new buildings after the 1960s as codes required interior stairwells and sprinklers.

Ancient Rome's first state-funded firefighting force, created under Augustus, was known as what?

Organised into cohorts, they doubled as a night watch and city police force.

What does the firefighter's abbreviation SCBA stand for?

It supplies clean air inside smoke-filled buildings and is worn with turnout, or bunker, gear.

The NFPA was founded in 1896 by insurers and a pipe maker to standardise what?

Today the Quincy, Massachusetts body publishes more than 300 codes and standards.

What are department members who inspect buildings for code violations and teach in schools called?

A Chief Fire Prevention Officer normally trains newcomers to the division and may conduct inspections or presentations.

Roughly how many buildings in North America legally require a fire safety plan?

Owners are generally responsible for preparing the plan, and lacking one can result in a fine.