Fire Suppression Terms and Definitions

Fire suppressing agents are used as an alertnative to water to suppress a fire. They include CO2, chemical, or inert gases. These agents have unique properties that are ideal for protecting sensitive equipment and contents within a building even while suppressing a fire.

Foam deluge systems use a mixture of foam and water to quickly control burning flammable liquids, cooling the surface area. The consistency of the foam causes a thick blanket to starve fires of oxygen and inhibit the release of flammable gases, effectively smothering the blaze.

Intumescent paint is a coating that reacts to heat by swelling in a controlled manner to many times its original thickness, producing a carbonaceous char formed by a large number of small bubbles that act as an insulating layer to protect a structure. The paint contains thermodynamic compounds, which increase in size when exposed to high temperatures. This forms a protective coating around a building’s framework, including steel beams and other structural elements. Intumescent coatings used on steel structure can maximize the time taken by emergency responders to extinguish flames and evacuate buildings safely.

Automatic fire suppression system consists of an elements that detect heat and smoke and a suppression agent container. There will also often be a manual activation system that acts as a failsafe in the case that the automatic system isn’t triggered. They eliminate the need for human activation or intervention, which reduces the risk to occupants’ safety, and is ideal for extinguishing fires in remote or less accessible areas of a building or estate.

A fire suppression system is an integral part of any fire protection infrastructure. ‘Fire suppression’ is a collective term for any engineering group of units that are designed to put out a fire. This can be achieved by applying an extinguishing substance such as water, foam or chemical compounds.

A dry fire suppression system is a type of fire suppression system used in locations where water would do significant damage to infrastructure or equipment. A gas is used to displace atmospheric oxygen and extinguish a fire by starving it of an oxidiser. It is not generally used in occupied spaces.