Branchpipe Nozzle
Understanding Fire Safety Tools and Equipment

If someone asks you if you know what fire safety is, you would probably say yes, and go on to explain that it involves fire preventive measures as well as knowledge on how to use fire safety tools such as fire extinguishers or fire hose. However, you must know that the field of fire safety is a lot broader than that. In fact, it encompasses a huge spectrum of knowledge, measures, and skills that most people do not know about.

For example, if someone asks you what a branchpipe nozzle is, would you know what to answer? Do you know that this is a fire-fighting apparatus that discharges fire-extinguishing substances such as water or foam? Are you aware that it has a shut-off valve that controls the supply of liquid or foam?

Like most people, your answer would probably be no. Of course, knowing about the basic fire safety tools and equipment does not necessarily require you to get a doctorate degree on this field for you to know enough to be able to reduce risks of fire or lessen injury or disastrous consequences that a fire may do to you.

Fire hose, fire extinguishers, fire sprinkler system, fire blankets, smoke detectors—these are just few of the many fire safety equipment that you have to know about in order for you to have sufficient knowledge on fire safety.

Fire extinguishers come in different kinds such as water fire extinguishers (for fires involving paper, cloth, and upholstery), foam fire extinguishers (for fires caused by flammable liquids), dry powder fire extinguishers (for fires that started from flammable gases), specialist powder fire extinguishers (for burning metals), carbon dioxide fire extinguishers (for electrical fires), and wet chemical fire extinguishers (for fires that resulted from burning oil or deep fat fryers).

A fire hose also have different types. The more common ones are the layflat fire hose and the swinging hose reel. Smoke detectors meanwhile typically come in two kinds: photoelectric and ionization. As for fire blankets, there is usually one generic type of blanket that can be used to put out small incipient fires. Fire blankets are typically stored in the kitchen to extinguish flames from stoves or grills.

Moreover, fire safety equipment consists of different parts. A fire hose for example has a hose reel, a nozzle, and a hose reel valve, which you will use to turn on and off the water supply. This is important because you will not be able to use the hose to extinguish flames if you do not know about this.

Fire extinguishers, on the other hand, have a safety pin, nozzle, and a handle. Putting out a small fire with a fire extinguisher requires you to pull out the safety pin, aim the nozzle at the base of the fire, and make a sweeping motion on the burning area to effectively extinguish the flames.

It is not necessary to memorize all the pieces of fire brigade equipment but you should at least be knowledgeable on the fire safety equipment that you own or have in your office so that you will know how to utilize them in case a fire accident occurs in your home or workplace.