Jones and Bartlett Firefighter Skills

Question 1

What type of construction is referred to as “ordinary construction”?

Answer 1

Type III

Question 2

At what temperature will steel lose its strength and elongate, causing a support beam to collapse?

Answer 2

538 degrees C (1000 degrees F)

Question 3

What is the term that relates to the decrease in wood strength from exposure to the high temperatures generated by a fire?

Answer 3

Pyrolysis

Question 4

What type of construction is referred to as “fire-resistive” construction?

Answer 4

Type I

Question 5

What type of construction is used for almost all modern wood-frame construction?

Answer 5

Platform-frame

Question 6

What type of non load-bearing wall is an interior wall that extends from a floor to the underside of a floor above?

Answer 6

Fire barrier walls

Question 7

When concrete is heated, the moisture inside the concrete converts to steam and expands, creating internal pressure and causing a section of the concrete to break off. This process is called __________

Answer 7

Spalling

Question 8

What is the term for the weight of a building itself, without contents, as it sits on the foundation?

Answer 8

Dead load

Question 9

What type of glass is often used in fire doors and windows designed to prevent fire spread?

Answer 9

Wired glass

Question 10

In Canada, a good rule of thumb for identifying Type II structures is _______________

Answer 10

Visibly exposed structural steel elements

Question 11

Which phase of fire suppression involves considering dispatch information along with pre-incident plan information about the location to determine what types of tools might be needed?

Answer 11

Response and size-up

Question 12

What special equipment is needed for a rapid intervention company/crew?

Answer 12

Thermal Imaging Camera

Question 13

What are the 3 ways that fire can spread?

Answer 13

Conduction, convection and radiation

Question 14

What is conduction?

Answer 14

Transfer of heat through matter (ie. heat travelling up a metal spoon)

Question 15

What is convection?

Answer 15

Circulatory movement that occurs in a gas or fluid. Convection currents in a fire involve hot gases generated by the fire that rise because they are lighter, creating a higher pressure. Cooler gases are denser and move to the lower areas.

Question 16

What is radiation?

Answer 16

The transfer of heat through the emission of energy in the form of electromagnetic waves

Question 17

What kind of fires are Class A fires?

Answer 17

Ordinary solid combustible materials (wood, paper, cloth)

Question 18

What kind of fires are Class B fires?

Answer 18

Flammable or combustible liquids (gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, etc)

Question 19

What kind of fires are Class C fires?

Answer 19

Energized electrical equipment

Question 20

What kind of fires are Class D fires?

Answer 20

Combustible metals (sodium, magnesium, titanium)

Question 21

What kind of fires are Class K fires?

Answer 21

Combustible cooking oils and fats in kitchens

Question 22

What are the three primary factors that influence the combustion of solid fuel fires?

Answer 22

Composition of the fuel, the amount of fuel and the configuration of the fuel

Question 23

What are the factors that influence the fuel configuration?

Answer 23

Surface-to-mass ratio, orientation of the fuel, continuity of the fuel

Question 24

What are the four stages of fire development?

Answer 24

Incipient stage, growth stage, fully developed stage, decay stage

Question 25

What happens during the incipient stage of a fire?

Answer 25

Fuel starts to burn; fire is confined to the area of origin and does not significantly affect the atmosphere in the fire compartment

Question 26

What happens during the growth stage of a fire?

Answer 26

- Fire begins to involve fuels beyond the ignition point - Fire begins to create a plume of hot gases - Temperature in the fire compartment begins to rise and pyrolyze fuels close to the fire - When pressure from the burning gases gets higher, the fire may begin to spread beyond the room of origin -

Question 27

What happens during the fully developed stage of a fire?

Answer 27

- All available fuel has ignited and heat is being produced at the maximum rate - Some fires will not reach a fully developed stage because they become ventilation-limited

Question 28

What happens during the decay stage of a fire?

Answer 28

Rate of burning slows down because less fuel is available or the oxygen supply is limited

Question 29

What are some special conditions within the fire compartment?

Answer 29

- Thermal layering - Roll-over - Backdraft - Flashover - Rapid fire growth - Ventilation-limited fires

Question 30

What is thermal layering?

Answer 30

The property of gases in an enclosed space in which they form layers according to their temperature. Hottest gases travel by convection currents to the top level of the room

Question 31

What is roll-over?

Answer 31

Ignition of the hot, unburned gases that have accumulated at the top of the fire compartment; can be a precursor to a flashover

Question 32

What is a flashover?

Answer 32

Near-simultaneous ignition of most of the exposed combustible materials in an enclosed area

Question 33

What is a backdraft?

Answer 33

Caused by a change of the ventilation profile, permitting the introduction of oxygen into an enclosure where superheated gases and contents are hot enough for ignition, but the fire does not have sufficient oxygen to cause their combustion

Question 34

Why are modern structures at greater risk of backdrafts?

Answer 34

- More tightly sealed - Constructed of lighter-weight materials - Contain more plastics

Question 35

The characteristics of flammable vapours can be described in terms of ____________________ and ____________________

Answer 35

Vapour density, flammability limits

Question 36

What is a BLEVE?

Answer 36

Boiling liquid/expanding vapour explosion

Question 37

Assessment of what four things assists firefighters to potentially predict the location of a fire and its stage of development?

Answer 37

- Smoke volume - Velocity - Density - Colour

Question 38

Smoke reading requires firefighters to evaluate the effect of ___________, ___________, and _____________ on the smoke

Answer 38

The building, the weather, ventilation

Question 39

The risk of failure of a steel structure depends on ___________, ___________, and ___________

Answer 39

Mass of the steel components, loads placed on them, methods used to connect the components

Question 40

What is the most important characteristic of wood?

Answer 40

High combustibility

Question 41

What is Type I Construction?

Answer 41

Fire-resistive - commonly used in schools, hospitals, and high-rise buildings

Question 42

What is Type II Construction?

Answer 42

Non-combustible - commonly used in single storey warehouses or factory buildings where fire spread is not an issue

Question 43

What is Type III Construction?

Answer 43

Ordinary - used in a wide variety of buildings, ranging from strip malls to small apartment buildings