Smoke Ventilation

Tony Cozzolino

English A

J. Wilson

5-1-04

Smoke Ventilation

Firefighters, lately defined as heroes, have a very exciting job and do some pretty amazing things. My main interests however, is how firefighters ventilate heat and smoke from a structure fire. What pieces of equipment do they use? How do they use those pieces of equipment? Why ventilation is so important and why do they take certain precautions when using their equipment?

Growing up in the woods has made my life a lot more different than an average city slicker. You see, I have a thing about fire. It is one thing that is very interesting to me. Some things that are interesting about fire is that it grows very fast and it is very dangerous, but that never stops me from playing with it. No, I'm not a pyro and I don't set things on fire to harm anyone or anything, I just love the way it look and the way it works. A friend of mine that everyone knows named Smokey said to me, " Only you can prevent forest fires," so I do. When it comes to arsine fires I get very disappointed in the person that does it because that to me show that person doesn't care about our forests and nature. I only except natural fires because it is natural and it is apart of life.

I really grew interested in Smoke Ventilation when my friend Dj,( who is in the process of becoming part of the Mariposa CDF program), told me about how smoke itself can start a fire, if hot enough. I asked him if he could tell me more about Smoke Ventilation, so he gave me some helpful information. I also wanted to learn what considerations must be made when dealing with a structure fire, and what are the important aspects of strategy and tactics. It turns out that Dj also had information on that as well. I asked him for the information he new along with the work he had finished in his class. He gave me some packets called," Fire Fighting Technology," which teaches a person about Smoke Ventilation and the important aspects of strategy and tactics.

Becoming a Firefighter is a big step and it takes a person with a strong mind, body and soul, not to mention common sense. It also take a strong will to learn and work hard. Firefighting is no game and it is something that is really hard to do. Smoke Ventilation is something that a person needs to take very seriously and they must always pay attention to the task at hand. One wrong move can put a person in deep trouble.

To define Ventilation is quite simple, because a person with common sense would know what ventilation means. Ventilation removes heated air, smoke and gasses and replaces those with cooler air to help fight a fire. In more simple terms it takes out bad air and brings in good air. If a firefighter can do that then they have the ability to enter the structure to try and fight the fire from the inside rather from the out side. There is a lot of good things the Smoke Ventilation does which helps firefighters to gain access into a structure.

Ventilation is one of the first things that a firefighter will do when dealing with a structure fire. It is the beginning step to try and control a fire. There are four different kinds of ventilation, vertical, horizontal, natural and forced. Depending on the situation firefighters determine which way they are going to approach the structure fire. Planning the ventilation process is very important when dealing with safety, to the best of my knowledge. Something can and may go wrong if ventilation is not planned and coordinated correctly.

Ventilation plays a big part in strategy and tactics and is something that firefighters always consider when they have to deal with a structure fire or any type of situation that involves smoke, heat and gas. When ventilation is done correctly it has many advantages that help firefighters to control the situation. The best thing about ventilation however is that it eliminates the possibility of a flashover or in another term backdraft. Earlier I was talking about four different kinds of ventilation.

Firefighters have to determine what kind of ventilation is needed at that current time. Firefighters do what is called a Size Up, which on the other hand is there strategy, tactics and methods. Strategy is the overall game plan. It is how the entire emergency situation should be handled. Strategy's goal is to minimize the lose of life and property, and to provide a safe environment for fire suppression and personnel. Tactics is the objectives needed for completing they emergency situation. After the problem