Suppose that your place of business experiences a fire. It is likely what burned in this scenario were either solids or flammable liquids. In the aftermath of an actual fire, various business personnel will be asked a number of questions, most of which have to do with "property". An accounting will be requested-a succinct cataloged recording of everyday items that the firm uses in any quantity that may ignite when fire or sufficient heat is present.
In a perfect world, an inventory of this type should have been formulated as part of a total preventative fire safety effort. Building engineers must be aware of how toxic, flammable explosive, reactive, radioactive, or corrosive the building contents are by nature, and in combination with other materials present. For any facility, the most important information that can be supplied to firefighters involves the identification of existing hazardous materials. Interaction with local fire officials also gives you the following to think about in terms of a potential fire:

* What are the potential sources of ignition? * How fast will the fire grow? * Will the alarms respond rapidly? * What effects will the resulting smoke have on life and property? * How can the fire be controlled?

The conditions under which the incident commanders and the Hazardous materials control officers of any organized firefighting team attempt to control and mitigate incidents involving hazardous materials are often unpredictable and always very stressful. Because of these difficulties, the effectiveness of their strategies and tactical decisions are highly dependent on the integrity, quality and accuracy of the information provided to them.
When we concern ourselves with the fire hazards of solids and liquids present in any building, we need to investigate the volatility of these materials because their fire potential differs considerably due to variations in burning characteristics. The most important items to spot, of course, are those that represent the greatest threat. To measure and identify those that are the most menacing to your business., the following three must be considered: the flash point of the material, its ease of ignition and its igniteability limits.


The volatility of any solid, and that includes the structural building materials can always be tempered to some extent by flame-resistive treatments and/or fireproofing. What makes a solid most susceptible to combustion is the amount and degree of heat that is applied to its surface over a certain duration of time. With proper flame-resistant treatments, flame spread can be effectively diminished even if ignition has already occurred, thereby depreciating heat release rates. This is especially true when the material is wood.


When the potential combustible is a stored commodity as opposed to a part of the building, there is limited "fireproofing" potential. Realistically, we cannot fireproof everything in the warehouse. This is the basic reason for installing automatic fire suppression systems. far from being a stopgap measure, fire sprinkler systems are designed to control or extinguish fire by a design with the arrangements of storage.


Most plastics, when stacked in storage warehouses, will burn at the same rate as stored cardboard boxes, fabrics and wood. What burns much more intensely is foam rubber and foam plastic, which will also produce a virtual cloud of smoke and toxic gas.


Specifics for the classification of commodities are found in NFPA13. Table A.5.6.3 offers an alphabetized commodity listing to identify the corresponding hazard group category. Products to be stored higher than 12 feet are designated by one of four classifications: Class I being the least volatile, Class IV being the highest. They are further established as follows:


Class I -- encompasses essentially noncombustible products in paper or cardboard cartons or wrappings, with or without wooden pallets.

Class II-- is composed of Class I products in wooden or multilayer cardboard containers, with or without pallets.

Class III-- contains wood, paper, or natural cloth products or Group C plastics, with or without pallets. A limited amount of Group A or B plastics may also be included.

Class IV-- is composed of any of the above, with a appreciable amount of Group A or B plastics in ordinary corrugated cartons, or with Group A or B plastic packing, with or without pallets.