Kinds of Fire

Fire is the heat and light that comes from burning substances. In 1774, Antoine Lavoisier, a French chemist, proved that burning is the result of the rapid union of oxygen with other substances. As a substance burns, heat and light are produced. Burning is also called combustion. Often oxygen unites with other substances at such a slow rate that little heat and no light are given off. When this happens we call this process oxidation, rather than burning or combustion. Oxidation takes place whenever oxygen unites with other substances either rapidly or slowly. For example, when oxygen unites with gasoline, the action takes place rapidly and heat and light are given off. This process may be described by any of the three words, burning, combustion, or oxidation. When oxygen unites with iron and causes it to rust, burning, or combustion, does not take place, but oxidation does.

All substances do not burn in the same manner. Substances such as wood, oil, magnesium, gas, and coal give off heat and a flame, while a substance like charcoal gives off heat with only a glow. But all these substances require oxygen, which may be obtained from the air, in order for them to burn.

Sometimes old rags soaked with oil or paint are put aside and forgotten. Oxygen from the air may slowly unite with the oil in the rags. At first, there will not be a fire. But as oxidation gradually takes place, enough heat accumulates to set the rags on fire. This type of burning, called spontaneous combustion causes many fires.

Very rapid burning may cause explosions like those produced by gunpowder and dynamite. Here, oxidation takes place so rapidly that great volumes of gases are produced. These require many hundreds of times the space that was formerly occupied by the gunpowder or dynamite before it was oxidized. These gases expand so rapidly and violently that they produce an explosion. An explosion is really a sudden increase in volume, caused by rapid burning.

Answer the questions:

1. What do we call “oxidation”?

2. Why does fire present threat to life and property?

3. What is spontaneous combustion?

4. What can cause an explosion?

5. What produces flame and heat?

6. How did the first man use a flame?

7. What combustion products can be named “evidence of fire”?

8. Why does heat present physical danger to a human being?

Unit 2

How civil defence is administered

In the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinates the nation's nonmilitary preparations for an enemy attack. The agency also has the chief responsibility for the federal programs that follow peacetime disasters. FEMA works with industries, national organizations, and state and local government to improve civil defence preparedness.

FEMA administers a nationwide system of public shelters and thousands of emergency operating centers. The centers are protected places where top officials can meet to direct operations in an emergency situation.

In a major peacetime disaster, such as an especially destructive flood or storm, the President may declare a region to be a disaster area. Such a declaration makes the area eligible to receive funds and other assistance from the federal government to help deal with the disaster. FEMA coordinates this relief program.

Every state has a civil defence director and provides assistance to the civil defense agencies of its cities and counties. Most cities and counties also have a civil defense director. This official coordinates emergency preparations made by the local government and by individuals and private organizations.

In Canada, a federal agency called the National Emergency Planning Establishment, also known as Emergency Planning Canada, administers civil defence. It coordinates emergency planning by a federal agencies and departments. It also helps the cities, provinces, and territories plan for major emergencies.

In other countries Civil defence programs are conducted by the governments of many other countries, including Denmark, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. For example, the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organization are set up to warn the public of an enemy attack and measure the level of nuclear fallout.

Unit 1

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