Evolution and History of Fire Science in the United States - Research Paper Example

Evolution and History of Fire Science in the United States. Fire refers to the chemical reaction that arises from the evolution of light and energy that can be felt or sensed by a person. In scientific terms fire and combustion are considered to be the same while in conventional terms fire is not considered to be the same as fire since it’s believed that combustion can control fire. Fire results from striking a match, glowing of charcoal briquette, conflagration of the forest as well as from the spontaneity of smoking hay stack. The natural factors that lead to fires involve lighting and moldering of rocks that result from the volcanic activities. For instance a large meteorite smashed into the earth and later on passed through the atmosphere .The meteorite caused frictional heating and its impact propelled the debris and fire products in the atmosphere to move about on the ground. It also led to the formation of soot that circled the earth and affected the atmosphere for one year .There was also a perpetual winter and demise of the dinosaurs as their food supplies had been eliminated by the change in the climatic conditions (Hasenmeier, 2009). Fire can arise at any place or time therefore controlling it can be a very difficult task. Fighting fire is a very dangerous activity that requires the use of specialized equipments. The specialized equipments can be used effectively and safely in order to control fires that may arise within an organization. Fire began way back in the country’s first colonies .In 1600 the firefighters dealt with fire, smoke and heat without using any type of technology. In case fire arose, it burnt up all the structures since the firefighters fought the fires from a distant therefore could not perform their work in an effective manner. The cloths they wore would not protect them from severe heat and flames emitted during the fire tragedies. The structural fire fighters clothing were however implemented so as to control fire during the fire fighting operations. They involved; helmet, coat pants, boots, gloves and hood that covered some parts of the head that were not protected by the helmet and face piece .These types of clothing protected the fire fighters from heat and cold but did not provide adequate protection from harmful vapors or liquids that they encountered during the dangerous incidents. The personal protective equipments helped the firefighters to overcome the harsh climatic conditions that occurred during the fire emergency process. For instance the gear provided the firefighters with protection and comfort during the fire fighting operations (Hassan, Scholes, and Ash, 2005). The first fires that were reported in United States were the Great Fire of London (166) and the Chicago Fire (1871).These fires caused destruction to thousands of buildings in the area. They were classified as forest-like events which were spread by wind, although immediately the winds stopped the fire also stopped. It was observed that the mechanical suppression apparatus could not deal with the fires until calm prevailed within the area.Their lateral flame extent was larger than that of the theme flames height. These fires did exist during the World War II where there was massive bomb raids that occurred in Hamburg, Dresden and Tokyo which were very destructive than the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nakasaki.It was noted that over 2.5 million fires were reported in the United States of America every year. The fires led to over 500 deaths such that one out of every 700 people died from fire burns. The advent of technology however led to the decline of death and fires in the state. Extensive research work has been carried out so as to protect and prevent fires from occurring within the environment .The Great fire in Baltimore (1904) and the fact that property was lost at that time which was five times more than that which occurred in Europe led to the implementation of the National Research program .The program was initiated by the National Bureau of Standards so as to investigate on the consequences of fire on the building construction materials. It was noted that steel and concrete caught fire easily therefore implementation of fireproof materials would be used in solving the problem of fires within an organization. The Congress Party passed a Fire and Prevention and Control Act of 1974 .The act was structured by the United States administration so as to prevent fires, improve educational standards, assess the national fire statistics, and to develop a research work statistics that would address the issue of fires in the right way. The research work also addressed the issue of development of fires in buildings, ignition, flame spread, smoke and flashover that resulted from sudden events of fire growth that spread throughout the room in a rapid manner. The facilities that were considered to be useful to carry out the task were; residential smoke detectors, smoke control systems in large buildings as well as the extension sprinklers in both the public as well as the residential occupancies (Quintiere, 1998). The Underwriters Laboratory (UL) and the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) did contribute to the standard method that was used in assessing the fire conditions that occurred in United States of America. A fire resistance test was however established so as to ensure that the measurement endurance of the structural elements of buildings and their structures were implemented in the right way. The tests conducted in the standard furnaces would ensure structures would not collapse as a result of the fire arising in the building. The advanced technologies are considered to bring about growth and development within a country. The technologies may on the other hand pose as a health hazard to the residents of a country in which the technologies are implemented. In 1970s the light weight cellular plastics were invented, but they could easily catch therefore posed as a health hazard to its users. A committee was later on established in order to solve the problem, but even today this issue has not been solved by any authority. A research conducted showed that fire could not be controlled by any means of combustion as chemistry, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer methods .Although the issue of combustion had not fully developed in the 1930s, and it was later revived in the 1950s where it proved to be workable. Nowadays the computers are been used to examine many subjects related to fire but the issue of its turbulence, chemical kinetics and small scale issues cannot be effectively resolved through the use of the computer solutions . The shape of the flame of fire is normally influenced by the fluid flows which are induced by the flame itself.In the science lab, the scientists cannot limit the scope of his or her observation in regard to the fire phenomena, although the small scale studies do show that this some relevance in studying its behavior (International Association of Fire Chiefs, 2007). In United States of America fire is used in pre-suppressing the forest conditions so as t ensure agricultural activities are carried out in the appropriate manner. This cannot be however carried out if there is no balanced economy, social and economic facilities that can allow this issue to be carried as planned for. The limitation of fire is that once it occurs it leads to destruction of properties that later on drains economy resources. It was reported that in United States of America residential homes suffered from unwanted fires every day. In every 60 seconds reported the fire department was called upon to deal with problem of fire as it arose frequently. The invention of new technologies has contributed to rising cases of fires since most building are constructed with very cheap materials that can easily caught fire. In countries experiencing wars, there is destruction of property therefore the economy of that country cannot grow at any time of the year. It is important to study the behavior of fire as it can destroy property and lead to the loss of lives of people who face the fire tragedy. Research work should be carried on the best protective devices of handling fire in case it occurs .People should be trained on fire aid mechanics aimed at preventing and handling fire since it can reduce chances of destruction from taking place in an area. References Hassan, R. M., Scholes, R. and Ash, N. (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being: current State and trends: findings of the condition and trends working group of the millennium Ecosystem assessment. Washington DC United States of America: Island Press. International Association of Fire Chiefs. (2007).Industrial Fire Brigade: Principles and Practice. Sudbury Massachusetts, United States of America: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Omim, P. N. (2005).Forest fires: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, United States of America.ABC-CLIO. Quintiere, J. G. (1998). Principles of fire behavior. Florence, KY, United States of America: Cengage Learning. Webb, G. E. (2002).The evolution controversy in America. Levington-Fayette, KY, United States Of America: University Press of Kentucky. Hughes J. D. (2002). An Environmental History of the World: Humankind's Changing Role in the Community of Life Routledge, Read More