12/20/2013

3 Knowledge Objectives (1 of 2)
• Explain the chemistry of fire.
Basic Fire • Describe the conditions necessary for a fire to
exist.
Science
• Describe the changes that materials undergo
in response to heating.
• Explain the components of fire dynamics.

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Knowledge Objectives (2 of 2) Introduction
• Discuss the roles of fuel items and fuel • Humans have used fire for thousands of years.
packages. – Heating homes, cooking food, waging wars
• Explain flame spread. • Tragic events have occurred as result of fire
• Fire investigators must understand properties
of fire

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Fire Chemistry (1 of 6) Fire Chemistry (2 of 6)
• Fire is a chemical reaction • Liquids must be heated to produce ignitible
– Results in light and heat mixtures in air (vaporization)
• Fire usually occurs only in the gas phase • For a fire (combustion) to occur, four
• Solids must be heated first, to decay and components must be present:
produce gases—a process called pyrolysis. – Fuel, oxidizing agent, heat, chemical chain
reaction

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Fire Chemistry (3 of 6) Fire Chemistry (4 of 6)
• By eliminating one of the four components, The fire tetrahedron.
the fire can be extinguished.

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Fire Chemistry (5 of 6) Fire Chemistry (6 of 6)
• Fuel • Oxidizing agent
– The material that will be consumed by combustion – Usually the oxygen in air
– Organic (carbon‐containing) fuels are most • Heat
common – Produces energy to create and ignite vapors
• Wood, plastics, petroleum products
• Uninhibited chemical chain reaction
– Gaseous fuels are probably most dangerous
– Fire burns even after removal of ignition source

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Phase Changes and Thermal Phase Changes and Thermal
Decomposition (1 of 2) Decomposition (2 of 2)
• During fire, materials may change their • Flames produced during combustion can be
physical state premixed or diffused.
– Called phase change • A balanced air to fuel ratio is called the
• Phase change can be: stoichiometric ratio.
– Reversible, as in melting and vaporization – Exists above lower explosive limit (LEL) and below
the upper explosive limit (UEL)
– Irreversible—called thermal decomposition
• Best example of a diffusion flame:
– Candle flame

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Products of Combustion Smoke and Flame Color
• Visible and invisible compounds released • Neither should be relied on as indicator of
when fuel burns what is burning.
• Smoke is created by combining various – Can change during various fire phases
products of combustion. – Fire fighting operations can also change the color.
• Products of combustion migrate away from
the fire and cool, accumulating on both
horizontal and vertical surfaces.

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Fire Dynamics Fluid Flows
• The study of all behaviors of fire • Fire creates its own buoyant flow
• Requires some understanding of: – As result of hot gases being less dense than cool
– Fluid flows, heat transfer gases
– Ignition and flame spread • Hot gases rise in a plume
– Fuel packages – Entrain, or draw in, cool air
– Heat flux – Gas flow velocity increases
– Distinction between fuel‐controlled and – Diameter of plume increases—cone shape results
ventilation‐controlled fires – Movement of gases parallel to ceiling—ceiling jet

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Heat Transfer (1 of 3) Heat Transfer (2 of 3)
• Heat energy naturally transfers from areas of • Temperature is different from heat.
higher temperature to lower temperature – Temperature—A measurement of the amount of
• The rate of transfer (heat flux) is measured in molecular activity when compared with a
reference or standard.
kilowatts per square meter (kW/m2).
– Heat—The amount of energy needed to change
• As a fire progresses, the effects of heat an object’s temperature; may be transferred by
transfer create various fire patterns. conduction, convection, or radiation.

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Heat Transfer (3 of 3) Fuel Load
• Conduction—occurs when solid objects are • Fuel load: amount of fuel present
heated and energy is transferred from hotter • A reflection of potential energy
to cooler areas • Does not determine how fast the fire develops
• Convection—occurs when heat is absorbed once ignition occurs
from heated gases or liquids
• Radiation—occurs when heat is transmitted
by electromagnetic waves

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Fuel Items and Fuel Packages Heat Release Rate (HRR) (1 of 2)
• Fuel item: material consumed during a fire • HRR is the energy released by the fuels
• Fuel package: fuel items placed close to each consumed
other, such that flames can spread • An HRR curve indicates the energy released
• Common fuel packages during the incipient, growth, free‐burning, and
– Furniture and contents of dorm or bedroom decay stages of a fire.
– Personal items in commercial storage space • Highest value is the peak HRR
– Combustible raw materials used in manufacturing • Knowing peak HRR for various fuel packages
can assist the investigator.

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Heat Release Rate (HRR) (2 of 2) Flame Height and HRR
• Idealized HRR curve. • Generally, larger flame heights correspond to
higher rates of heat release
• Property of interest is the average flame
height, not the highest
• Location of fuel package in the room (wall
effect, corner effect) and ceiling height affect
flame height

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Ignition (1 of 2) Ignition (2 of 2)
• Source of ignition is critical in determining fire • Most fuels need to liberate fuel gases for
cause ignition to occur
– Can be smoldering or flaming, piloted or • Source of heat energy needs to be greater
autoignition than the ignition temperature
• Factors involved: • In smoldering fires flames are absent, but may
– Fuel form, amount, proximity to heat source provide sufficient heat to other fuels that
– Amount of heat generated produce flaming combustion.
– Duration of exposure

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Ignition of Flammable Gases Ignition of Liquids
• Gas must be present in concentration that will • Flash point: lowest temperature to produce
allow for piloted ignition from spark or flame flammable vapor
– Called flammable range of a gas • Fire point: burning will be sustained after
• Flammable gas can also ignite without piloted removal of ignition source
ignition. – Usually only a few degrees higher than flash point
– Air is heated to autoignition temperature (AIT) – Sometimes may be same as flash point

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Ignition of Solids Flame Spread
• Smoldering ignition • As fire grows, flames move across fuel surface
– May transition to flaming combustion • Dependent on fuel properties and position of
• Piloted flaming ignition fuel surfaces
– Flammable vapors ignited by arc, spark, or flame • Flame spread may be the result of melting or
• Flaming autoignition dripping materials from a fuel package.
– eg, commercial clothes dryers with oily laundry, • Radiant heat may accelerate rate of flame
piles of vegetable material spread
– Presence of oxidizing agents increase probability

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Compartment Fire Spread (1 of 3) Compartment Fire Spread (2 of 3)
• Fire spreads differently in a compartment than • Fuel‐controlled burning (ignition and
in the open. growth phases)
• Fire spread may result from direct flame – There is still sufficient oxygen in the room
contact or remote ignition. – Venting may allow hot gases to escape
• Superheated gases and smoke are confined by • Flashover
ceiling – Convected and radiated heat ignite other
– Hot gas layer increases in temperature and materials in the room
radiates heat, igniting other fuel items – “Fire in a room” becomes “room on fire”

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Compartment Fire Spread (3 of 3) Witness Statements
• Ventilation‐controlled burning • Be cautious of statements made by witnesses.
– Rate of combustion begins to exceed the amount • They describe rate of fire growth from the
of air flow into the room time they discovered the fire.
– As fire destroys doors or creates other new – May be difficult to compare with time of ignition
openings, airflow into the room may increase.
• Rapid fire growth alone is not a reliable
indicator of an incendiary fire.

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Summary (1 of 8) Summary (2 of 8)
• For a fire to occur, four components must be • During a fire, materials may change their
present: fuel, oxidizing agent, heat, and an physical state as a result of being heated.
uninhibited chemical chain reaction. This is These phase changes include melting and
referred to as the fire tetrahedron. vaporization.

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Summary (3 of 8) Summary (4 of 8)
• If a fire has a limited amount of air for • Fluid flows, heat transfer, ignition and flame
combustion, an increase in the amount of spread, fuel packages, heat flux, and the
visible products of combustion, such as soot, distinction between fuel‐controlled fires and
smoke, and carbon monoxide, will occur. ventilation‐controlled fires are all components
• The color of smoke should not be relied on as of fire dynamics.
an indicator of the material burning.

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Summary (5 of 8) Summary (6 of 8)
• The power of a fire is determined by • An ignition source can be defined as either
calculating its HRR, the energy being released smoldering or flaming. A source of ignition
by the individual fuels being consumed. It is may also be characterized as either piloted or
measured in either watts or kilowatts. autoignition.

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Summary (7 of 8) Summary (8 of 8)
• Rates of flame spread are not only dependent • Investigators should be cautious of statements
on the individual fuel properties, but also the made by witnesses as they relate to the rate
position and orientation of the fuel surfaces. of fire growth because often witnesses
describe the rate of fire growth from the time
they discover the fire, which may be difficult
to compare to the time of ignition.