Fire Safety Pit Guide

A backyard fire pit can be a great way to enjoy the summer—think outdoor marshmallow roasts, char-grilled cookouts, and songs around the campfire, without having to go camping. But while backyard fire pits can be plenty of fun, they can also be dangerous—if you’re not aware of fire pit safety. Here are a few tips for keeping your fire pit activities fun and safe this season.

Avoid incendiary liquids. It’s not uncommon to start fires in fire pits using gasoline or lighter fluid. However, this can be extremely dangerous. If just a few drops of one of these extremely volatile liquids gets on you or on something flammable nearby, your fire could quickly spread out of control. Use too much fluid, and your fire could flare out of control the moment you strike a match—putting you and anyone else too close to the flames in danger.

Light fires the right way. Wood is generally one of the safer fuels you can use, because it burns slowly. However, even wood isn’t without its dangers. Avoid stacking wood too high; if a pile of wood shifts and falls while on fire, it could send sparks or flames scattering in the wrong direction. Instead of using newspaper or leaves to get a fire going, use commercial fire starters—these reduce the amount of smoke that comes from the flames.

Keep your fire pit away from the house. You should keep your fire pit at least three metres away from your house and away from any low-hanging tree branches for optimal fire pit protection. In addition, keep it at least a metre away from outdoor furniture and any garden foliage such as shrubs or bushes. Fire is highly unpredictable, and it can take less than a second for a fire to flare up.

Drinking and fire pits don’t mix. It’s surprisingly common for fire pit injuries to increase around the time of holidays—when people are more likely to be drinking near an open fire pit. More people than you’d think drink too much, lose their balance and fall in or too near to the flames—causing serious burns. If you’re going to light a fire in your backyard, keep it a safe distance away from the area where people will be drinking and hanging out. Don’t overindulge in alcohol while there’s a fire in your fire pit.

Keep the surrounding area clear. You don’t have to be drinking too much to fall into the fire. All it takes is a minute or two of inattention and a misplaced toy, garden rake or uneven patch of paving. Place your fire pit in an area where people are unlikely to trip and fall—make sure the ground is even. Pick up all toys, yard tools, and other objects that can be tripped over, and keep the area around your fire pit clear. This will lessen the danger for yourself and your guests.

Watch the weather. Weather has a huge effect on the relative safety of an outdoor fire. If you’re in the middle of a drought, your foliage is likely to be very dry—and much more likely to flare up from a tiny spark. High winds can also blow a fire out of control very quickly. In general, avoid lighting fires on windy days or during times of lessened precipitation. Lighting up the fire pit can be a fun part of celebrating summer. But make sure you do it safely. Follow these tips for outdoor fire pit safety, and you’re much more likely to manage your fire pit without risk of injury to yourself, your guests, and your family.

5 Safety Tips Fire Place

Fireplaces can be picturesque additions to homes, bringing warmth, cheer and light to living rooms and bedrooms. But they can also be dangerous. A large percentage of residential fires are caused by fireplaces and wood stoves, especially in rural areas where fireplaces are relied upon to heat homes. Here are a few tips for fireplace safety all year round.

Make sure your fireplace is clean. Keeping a clean fireplace or woodstove is key to fireplace safety. Get your chimney inspected and cleaned on an annual basis by a certified chimney expert—otherwise creosote build-up could cause a chimney fire. Make sure the area around your hearth is clear of decorations, debris, and other flammable materials. Always keep air inlets open on woodstoves and allow unrestricted air flow to fireplaces; lack of adequate oxygen hastens creosote build-up.

Keep sparks from flying. Use fireplace safety glass or a fireplace metal screen to prevent sparks from flying out of the fireplace and onto the floor. Fires can cast sparks a considerable distance outside the safety of the hearth, where it’s easy for them to ignite flammable materials including cloth, wood and paper.

Build fires safely. Avoid building large, roaring fires using numerous logs; these are typically the types of fires that cause large amounts of creosote to build up, and they’re also at larger risk of sending sparks into the room or flaring up too large for safety if the pile of wood shifts while it’s burning. Don’t burn soft, wet woods—these cause creosote build-up. Instead, use seasoned hardwoods as fuel. Place a small pile of logs at the back of the fireplace on a supporting grate—don’t burn a fire on the floor of the fireplace or near the front of the hearth. Avoid using flammable liquids to start a fire—these are extremely volatile.

Extinguish fires correctly. It’s best to let your fire burn down to ashes, then soak the ashes in water before placing them in a fireproof metal container outside your home. Never let a fire burn unattended, and always make sure your fire is completely out before you go to bed or go outside the house.

Store your firewood safely. Firewood should be kept outside your home and at least ten metres away from your house. Keep pine needles, leaves and other debris away from your chimney, smoke vents or flue, and cover your chimney opening with a mesh screen to prevent sparks from escaping.

Fireplaces seem cozy and domestic—but fires are unpredictable and can never be entirely controlled. Fireplace safety entails building small, controllable fires; preventing sparks from flying with fireplace safety glass or a mesh screen; and keeping your fireplace area clean and free of flammable debris or decorations. In addition, it’s crucial to make sure your chimney is free of creosote build-up—so have it inspected once a year. With these fireplace safety precautions, you should be able to keep your fireplace burning warmly and safely at all times.

What Fire Equipments Could save our life

Firefighters couldn’t do their jobs without help from a variety of special tools. Technology has made it possible for firefighters to climb to great heights, walk through raging fires unscathed, and perform feats of strength that would have been impossible a few decades ago. Here’s an overview of the fire rescue equipment that might save your life someday.

Fireproof Clothes. Firefighters’ clothing is something of an engineering miracle in itself. Firefighters wear jackets, gloves and trousers made from material that’s highly resistant to heat, burning, melting and scorching heat—while still being breathable and flexible. It’s made from a unique combination of Kevlar—which provides the flexibility and breathability—and a material called Nomex, invented by Dupont in the 60’s. There’s a variety of clothing available for firefighters and appropriate for different jobs, including trousers, shirts, coats, and full-body jumpsuits.

Both Kevlar and Nomex have interesting properties. Kevlar is five times stronger than steel. Nomex carbonizes when exposed to extreme heat, creating a thick barrier that protects the skin from intense heat.

Ladders. A firefighter’s ladder is more than a simple wooden construction that’s leaned against a wall. Firefighters rely on turntable ladders mounted on the back of a fire truck or lorry. This ladder is designed to pivot on its mount, allowing it to reach greater heights and allow access from many different angles of approach. Turntable ladders are telescopic and most operate via hydraulic levers or under pneumatic power. Many of these ladders are equipped with built-in water guns that can spray as much as 3500 litres per minute. They may also come equipped with buckets giving firefighters and rescuees a stable place to stand.

Hoses. The hoses attached to a firetruck can carry an astonishing amount of water—thousands of litres per minute. They’re also rescue tools in themselves; they can be adjusted to spray a mist or fire extinguishing foam to adjust for different types of fires, and the spray is so strong that they can also be used to knock down walls.

Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus. These are the masks firefighters wear that allow them to breathe inside buildings filled with flame and toxic smoke. Like scuba diving gear, a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) relies on a high-pressure tank containing a portable supply of breathable air.

Hydraulic rescue tools. These tools give emergency rescue personnel the ability to lift enormously heavy objects and cut through steel. They’re usually used in the process of rescuing people from small, enclosed spaces. They may be used for high-powered cutting, spreading and lifting. They’re powered by hydraulic pumps that might be manually operated, automatic, or built into the tool itself. A hydraulic spreader-cutter combination tool can cut open metal or lift a car. Jaws of Life, a cutting tool widely used in the U.S., can take the roof off a car in two minutes or less. Spreader tools can be used to widen even small cracks between two large objects, open a car door or tightly closed panels.

Firefighters use a wide range of fire equipment to rescue fire victims and extinguish fires—these are only a few. These high-tech toolboxes allow firefighters to fight fires many storeys off the ground, cut through steel, and breathe in buildings filled with toxic smoke. With them, they can extinguish more fires—and save more lives.

Fire Safety Clothings

Every tool firefighters bring to the scene of a fire is designed to withstand extreme heat, harsh chemicals, and dangerous conditions. This is true even of the clothes they wear. No material is completely fireproof, but firefighters’ clothes are designed to provide a fire-resistant shield that protects them against extremely high temperatures for a long period of time.

Firefighters’ clothes are typically made of a combination of Nomex—a material that provides extreme heat and fire protection, actually carbonizing in the presence of heat and creating a thick barrier that protects the skin—and Kevlar, a material that adds flexibility and breathability to allow firefighters to perform strenuous work even in difficult conditions. Here’s an overview of the gear firefighters wear when they respond to a call.

Fire kit. Also referred to as “turnout gear” or “bunker gear,” this refers to firefighters’ outer protective gear, which is highly fire resistant clothing. The term can be used to mean trousers, boots and jacket, or the entire system of protective clothing and equipment. According to tradition, the trousers and boots are traditionally stored by the firefighter’s bunk at the fire station for quick access. The trousers are typically stored crumpled around the boots so firefighters can step quickly into the boots and pull the trousers up.

Most fire brigades assign firefighters a jacket and trousers as part of their fire kit. This combination allows firefighters to take the jacket off if needed to cool off. Ordinarily, the fire kit’s job is to provide insulation from outside air—so they’re very hot.

Some fire brigades, however, assign a full-body suit that covers both upper and lower body. While this can’t be removed in situations where full-body protection isn’t needed, it also provides better protection from hot gasses, since there’s no gap between the top and bottom garments.

Boots. Firefighters use boots made of rubber or leather. They’re designed for extra toughness, fitted with safety toes and a midsole plate assuring puncture-resistance in case the firefighter steps on a nail or other sharp object. The rubber or leather is treated to be extremely fire resistant.

Helmets. A firefighter’s helmet is designed to protect the firefighter’s head from falling debris, as well as extreme heat. The helmet is made with a hard shell made to provide protection against heat, steam, electrical shocks and other hazards. Some come equipped with built-in goggles or visors to protect the eyes and face.

Protective hoods. Helmets are designed for heat and hazard protection, but they don’t cover the ears, neck, and a significant part of the face. When full-body protection is needed, firefighters wear a hood that completely covers the areas not protected by the helmet. These are made from Nomex knit fabric—the same material that provides heat and fire protection on a firefighter’s fire kit and other fire resistant clothing.

The fire resistant clothing firefighters wear is designed to perform miracles. It allows firefighters to walk into burning buildings, rescue victims and extinguish fires without risk of serious injury or death. It can be very hot and heavy to wear, but the protection is worth it.

6 fire safety tips for your home

Does your family know what to do to prevent fires from happening in the home? And do they know what to do if a fire’s already started? Here are six fire safety tips for kids and adults that will keep your family safe in case of a fire—and help prevent fires from starting in your home in the first place.

Have an escape plan. It’s important to have a fire escape plan worked out that’s simple and easy for your kids to follow. Have in mind at least two escape routes from every room, in case one way out is blocked. The windows in your house must be easy to open—don’t paint them over or nail them closed. Be sure you have fire-proof ladders available and easily accessible to everyone who sleeps on the second floor. Make sure your kids know the drill—practice “escaping” the house via different routes and meeting at a designated spot a safe distance from your home. If your family is familiar with the escape plan before they need to use it, chances are likely it will go smoothly if you ever do.

Never leave cooking food unattended. Cooking fires are the most common causes of fatal residential fires. Be sure never to leave food cooking on the stove unattended. Keep flammable materials including wooden utensils and cloth away from stoves, and be sure to roll up long sleeves when you cook.

Keep fire extinguishers in key places. Keep a fire extinguisher on every floor in your home, with at least one all-purpose fire extinguisher in the kitchen, basement, garage and any workshop areas. Be sure all adults and older children in your family know how to use one. To use a fire extinguisher, pull the pin, aim the fire extinguisher at the base of the fire, squeeze the lever slowly and move the nozzle in a side-to-side motion.

Make sure kids know what to do. Many young children will panic in case of fire and hide in a closet or under a bed. Make sure your kids are well versed in fire safety tips. They should know to crawl under the smoke to escape a burning building, to touch doors (not doorknobs) to see if they’re hot and to choose another exit if they are, cover their mouths and noses with a moist towel to keep from getting overwhelmed by smoke, and never to go back into a burning building or stop to take objects out of one.

Get regular inspections. Your chimneys, heating flues, and home heaters should be inspected on a yearly basis. Chimney fires are extremely hot and difficult to extinguish. They are not unusual and can occur from buildup that occurs naturally from wood stoves, fireplaces, or heating units in the home.

Be careful with candles. Candles are a primary cause of fires in the home. They’re easy to tip over, and young children and pets can both knock over a candle easily and cause a fire hazard. In addition, many candle holders heat to dangerous temperatures and are not fire-safe once the wick of the candle burns down. Never leave a candle burning unattended, and don’t allow your children to have candles or incense in their rooms. Be sure to keep matches in a safe place where kids can’t get to them.

In addition to these tips, be sure your fire detectors are working correctly and have batteries—and be sure the batteries are changed at least once a year. Follow these tips, and you should be able to keep your family safe from fire in the home.

7 unexpected causes of house fires

Think your house is safe from fire? Think again. These are the facts about house fires: homes are full of fire hazards, some of which can be easily predicted and recognized—and some of which can’t. Even if you keep your matches under lock and key and never leave an unattended pot cooking or candle burning, you could be at risk in other ways. Here are a few causes of house fires that you may not be aware of.

Wall outlets. They look perfectly innocent—but your wall outlet could easily be the cause of house fires. If you notice when you plug in your appliances that the plugs fit loosely in the socket, you should get the outlets repaired immediately. Wall outlets that fit plugs loosely can cause overheating, which could easily lead to a fire if the problem is ignored. If you encounter this problem, check to see if the outlet is warm, unplug all appliances from the outlet, and call an electrician.

Faulty electrical wiring. Electrical appliances occasionally come with defects that can cause electrical fires on their own. However, the most common cause of house fires in the home caused by appliances is definitely caused by poor maintenance and overloaded power strips and circuits. Never plug in too many high-powered appliances on one circuit—it’s a definite risk of fire.

Extension cords. Extension cords can wear out and fray, exposing wiring to flammable materials and causing electrical fires. Don’t use an electrical cord on a regular basis for a high-powered appliance for more than a few weeks; call an electrician and get an extra outlet installed in a more convenient location instead. In addition, never hide your extension cords behind furniture or beneath a rug. It can get walked on under rugs, fraying the casing; in addition, you won’t be able to tell that the cord is getting hot—a warning sign of malfunction and fire risk—until it’s too late.

An unlandscaped yard. You don’t need a perfectly green yard to keep your home safe from fire. But you do need to clear away any dry, grown-in weeds, trees and bushes surrounding your home. Flammable flora can catch fire from a stray spark from your chimney, a lightning bolt, or heat from a discarded cigarette, among other threats—and if dry vegetation is too close, the fire could transition to your house. It only takes an unpredictable spark and a sudden, stiff wind to push a fire out of control.

Fire is highly unpredictable, and it can take only seconds for a fire to rage out of control. Keep an eye out for warm extension cords, loose wall outlets, too much brush and overgrowth around your house, and other hazards that could cause a devastating fire. With the right amount of vigilance and observance of fire prevention best practices, you should be able to keep your home, property and family safe from fire.

seo : The right filler metal Consideration

5 Key Considerations in Selecting the Right Filler Metal for Your Welding Project

When it comes right down to it, the strength, longevity and overall integrity of a weld depends largely upon the filler metal. Failing to select the right filler metal for your welding project promises to compromise the fortitude of your weld.

OK, that totally makes sense, right? But how do you select the right filler metal? And what are the key elements you need to keep in mind in order to make the right choice?

Good question, I’m so glad you asked! 

Selecting the right filler metal for your welding projects breaks down to five key considerations:

1. Matching the base metal
2. Tensile strength
3. Welding position
4. Number of passes required to complete the weld
5. Cleanliness of the base metal

So let’s take a closer look at how each of these key elements relate to the filler metal selection process: Matching Filler Metal with the Base Metal

The single most important consideration in selecting the right filler metal is matching the filler metal as closely as possible to the base metal.

Whatever type of metal you’re working with – stainless steel, aluminum, bronze or copper alloys, or any of a host of other possible metals – each possesses its own unique properties, which are unmatched by other metals. It’s really pretty elementary chemistry if you think about it – dissimilar compositions aren’t going to bond well (or at all).

The monumental importance inherent in the strength and surety created by the bond between the filler and base metals makes this match the most important consideration in your filler metal selection process. Tensile Strength

Selecting the right tensile strength is a almost as important as matching filler and base metal type, coming in a close second among key considerations in your filler metal selection process. Basically, you want the tensile strength of your filler metal to equal or exceed the tensile strength of your base metal – if you can’t match the base metal’s tensile strength exactly, it’s better to exceed than settle for a short fall.

The logic here is also pretty elementary – if you’re bonding two pieces of base metal using a filler metal with a weaker tensile strength than that of your base metal, you’re headed for trouble and will definitely end up creating a weld that’s less than secure. Welding Position

Filler metals designed for flat or horizontal welding positions are generally less prone to porosity and developing other inclusion related issues, in addition to possessing a faster speed of travel. That means nine times out of ten, your best bet with any welding project is welding in a flat position, i.e. on a work bench or welding table, preferable in a welding shop or some similar work environment. But hey, realistically speaking, that's not always possible – what’re you gonna do, right?

When you’re making repairs in the field, however, and you don’t have the luxury of a comfy cozy welding shop environment, you gotta do what you gotta do. And that means selecting an all welding position filler metal.

All position filler metals offer a super solidification rate, ensuring the weld puddle remains intact. Number of Weld Passes

Welding electrodes (filler metal’s delivery agent) are designed for either single or multiple pass use. So when you select your electrode, you need to determine whether or not you can complete your weld in a single pass, or if multiple passes are required to get the job done. Condition of the Base Metal

Obviously, it’s always best to clean all contaminates from the base metal you’re working with prior to welding. Rust, scale, dirt, paint and other debris all represent impurities with the potential to compromise the strength and integrity of your weld, and removing those materials, in addition to generally making sure your base metal is as clean as possible, is really in your best interest.

Once again, however, it’s not always possible to make this happen. Just as you don’t always have the option of welding in the comfortable confines of welding shop, when making repairs in the field, you’re not always at liberty to clean the metal your working with as well as you would like.

Fortunately, certain filler metals include deoxidizers that are specifically designed to pull rust, dirt and other contaminants to the surface of the weld, and are ideal when you’re forced to weld less than pristine base metals.

Seo Safety Google : Hiperbaric Welding

Hyperbaric welding is  ?

the process of welding at elevated pressures, normally underwater.Hyperbaric welding can either take place wet in the water itself or dry inside a specially constructed positive pressure enclosure and hence a dry environment. It is predominantly referred to as "hyperbaric welding" when used in a dry environment, and "underwater welding" when in a wet environment. The applications of hyperbaric welding are diverse—it is often used to repair ships, offshore oil platforms, and pipelines. Steel is the most common material welded.

Dry hyperbaric welding is  ?

used in preference to wet underwater welding when high quality welds are required because of the increased control over conditions which can be exerted, such as through application of prior and post weld heat treatments. This improved environmental control leads directly to improved process performance and a generally much higher quality weld than a comparative wet weld. Thus, when a very high quality weld is required, dry hyperbaric welding is normally utilized. Research into using dry hyperbaric welding at depths of up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) is ongoing.In general, assuring the integrity of underwater welds can be difficult (but is possible using various nondestructive testing applications), especially for wet underwater welds, because defects are difficult to detect if the defects are beneath the surface of the weld.

Dry

Dry hyperbaric welding involves the weld being performed at the prevailing pressure in a chamber filled with a gas mixture sealed around the structure being welded.

Most welding processes SMAW, FCAW, GTAW, GMAW, PAW could be operated at hyperbaric pressures, but all suffer as the pressure increases.Gas tungsten arc welding is most commonly used. The degradation is associated with physical changes of the arc behaviour as the gas flow regime around the arc changes and the arc roots contract and become more mobile. Of note is a dramatic increase in arc voltage which is associated with the increase in pressure. Overall a degradation in capability and efficiency results as the pressure increases.

Special control techniques have been applied which have allowed welding down to 2500m simulated water depth in the laboratory, but dry hyperbaric welding has thus far been limited operationally to less than 400m water depth by the physiological capability of divers to operate the welding equipment at high pressures and practical considerations concerning construction of an automated pressure / welding chamber at depth.

Wet

Wet underwater welding commonly uses a variation of shielded metal arc welding, employing a waterproof electrode.Other processes that are used include flux-cored arc welding and friction welding.In each of these cases, the welding power supply is connected to the welding equipment through cables and hoses. The process is generally limited to low carbon equivalent steels, especially at greater depths, because of hydrogen-caused cracking.

Risks

The risks of underwater welding include the risk of electric shock to the welder. To prevent this, the welding equipment must be adaptable to a marine environment, properly insulated and the welding current must be controlled. Commercial divers must also consider the safety issues that normal divers face; most notably, the risk of decompression sickness following saturation diving due to the increased pressure of inhaled breathing gases.Many divers have reported a metallic taste that is related to the breakdown of dental amalgam.There may also be long term cognitive and possibly musculoskeletal effects associated with underwater welding.