Death from fire

The chemical process industry is vast and varied. The value of chemicals and chemical products in 1993 was 0.5 trillion for the Ll.S," involving 67,000 chemical engineers, 98,000 chemists. There were 5.5 non-fatal occupational injuries per 100 employees in 1995 involving chemical and allied products, and 4.8 per 100 workers in petroleum and coal products, There were 101 fatalities due to exposure to caustic, noxious or allergenic substances and 208 deaths from fires and explosions in 1995. 

The classification of different fire stages shows that fire hazards, and particularly the toxic hazards, depend upon the combustion conditions. In buildings, the majority of fires that are hazardous to life are likely to involve under-ventilated flaming, either pre- or postflashover. Since in the United Kingdom the majority of injuries and deaths from fire occur in domestic dwellings (77%), most deaths can be attributed to preflashover under-ventilated combustion. However, the greatest numbers of deaths from single fire disasters will almost always be attributable to postflashover conditions. 

Since most of the deaths from fires occur in residences, the NFPA proposes the following safety initiatives to improve fire safety (1) increase fire safety education on fire prevention and what to do if a fire occurs (2) install smoke detectors in all homes and check them periodically to ensure they are working properly (3) practice escape plans with the family (4) install residential home sprinklers to prevent fires from spreading once they start (5) develop products for the home that are more fire safe and produce less toxic combustion products (the latter is proposed by the authors) and (6) study the needs of the populations most at risk (the young, the elderly, and the poor) and implement preventive measures. 

Use of cigarettes and matches is the leading cause of deaths from fires in the United States. 

In addition, at least 16 people die each year in Europe, based on UK and European statistics. These are known to be conservative due to the cautious estimate of the frequency of TV fires, based on the HB rated sets in Europe. It is conjectured that there may be up to 10 times this munber. In the US, however, there is no record of any deaths from fires related to the VO rated sets in that coimtry. Thus, the risk to human life must not be ignored in any overall assessment of the risk from flame retardant additives. 

Most deaths from fires do not result from bums. Bums cause only about one-fourth of fire-related deaths. Nearly two-thirds of all fire-related deaths result from inhalation of carbon monoxide, smoke, toxic gases, and asphyxiation. About one-tenth of the deaths are from mechanical injuries, such as injuries from falls or falling material. 

For what age groups is death from fire most prevalent ... 

Latent cancer is calculated to be the primary risk from a nuclear accident (this may be due to the conservatism in the low-dose models). At Chernobyl, most of the deaths were from fire and impact. Chemical process risk depends on the chemicals being processed. Experience shows that processing poisons poses the highest risk to public and workers. 

In 1968, after 16 of years experience in production, 1 was transferred to a new position in safety. It was an unusual move at the time for someone with my background, but five deaths from three serious fires in three years, two of them the results of poor preparation for maintenance, convinced the senior management that more resources should be devoted to safety and that it could no longer be left to nontechnical people and elderly foremen. Since then I have read scores of reports about other accidents that happened because of this cause. Some were serious others were near-misses. 

Most of the concern for the toxicity of the atmospheres associated with fires has focused on vapors and gases. Vapors and gases are the components that are known to cause acute toxicity, and at high concentrations can lead to incapacitation and death. It is clear, however, that the smokes from fires also have particulate components in the form of soot and chemical reaction products, such as metallic oxides or ozonolysis products. The toxicity of these materials must also be considered. 

Smoke is a by-product of most fires caused by the incomplete oxidation of the fuel supply during the chemical process of combustion. It accounts for a large majority of fatalities of from fire incidents at both onshore and offshore petroleum facilities. In the Piper Alpha incident of 1988, probably the worst petroleum industry offshore life loss incident, the majority of deaths were not from bums, drowning or explosion impacts but from smoke and gas inhalation. The report on the incident concluded that, of the bodies recovered from the incident, 83% were as a result of inhalation of smoke and gas. Most of these victims were assembled in the accommodation awaiting evacuation directions or as they may have thought - a possible rescue. 

For this lifestyle to succeed, the wasp larvae obviously must avoid being recognized. If the ants were to detect them, they would suffer the fate of other intruders discovered in the nest expulsion or death. Although some intruders escape detection in ant nests because they resemble their ant hosts, Orasema larvae, pupae, and adults all are easily distinguishable from their hosts, at least by the human eye. Fire ants, however, are much more concerned with smell than physical appearance. Fire-ant odor and local colony odor are what matter to them. By these scents, ants identify their own nestmates as distinct from other species and even from fire ants belonging to rival colonies. The wasps strategy to avoid discovery is to smell just like fire ants. Larvae, pupae, and even adult wasps carry the distinctive scent of their particular fire ant colony. Shortly after the adult wasps leave the ant nest, this ant odor begins to fade. 

Each year, statistics on causes and occupancies of fires and deaths resulting from fire are compiled and published. NFPA sponsors seminars on the Life Safety Codes, National Electrical Code, industrial fire protection, hazardous materials, transportation emergencies, and other related topics. NFPA also conducts research programs on delivery systems for public fire protection, arson, residential fire sprinkler systems, and other subjects. NFPA publications include National Fire Codes Annual, Fire Protection Handbook, Fire Journal and Fire Technology. 

In contrast to the well-defined effects of asphyxiant toxicants, the effects of exposure to irritants are much more complex. Incapacitating irritants and smoke can cause death indirectly by preventing escape from fire. Most irritant fire effluents produce signs and symptoms of both sensory and upper... 

High yields of smoke, toxins, and irritants are generated at temperatures around 600°C as the fire stage changes to under-ventilated flaming in an enclosure fire. A room occupant is exposed to a highly toxic effluent mixture capable of causing incapacitation and death from asphyxiation within a few minutes. They will also suffer from exposure to heat, with a possibility of burns. 

SAFETY PROFILE Moderately toxic by ingestion. Inhalation of vapor can cause irritation to nasal passages and conjunctiva, optic neuritis, narcosis, retching, and death from pulmonary irritation. Industrial fatalities have occurred only with exposure to high concentrations. Flammable liquid. Ver dangerous fire hazard when exposed to heat or flame can react vigorously with oxidizing materials. Explosive in the form of vapor when exposed to heat or flame. 

Fire statistics collected by NFPA indicated that 1 687 500 fires were reported in the United States in 2002, the latest year for which complete statistics are available at the time of this writing. Calculated another way, these statistics translate into a reported fire occurring in the United States every 19 s, in an outside property every 38 s, in a structure every 61s, in a residence every 67 s, and in a motor vehicle every 96 s. These fires caused 3380 civilian deaths and 18 425 reported injuries in 2002. Excluding New York City s World Trade Center deaths from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in which 2326 civilian deaths occurred, the number of deaths in 2002 decreased by almost 10% from the previous year. However, there still was one civilian fire death every 156 min and one fire injury every 28 min. The number for injuries is believed to be less than the actual number, since many injuries are not reported. The property loss due to fires in 2002 is estimated at 10.3 billion dollars and indicates a decrease of 2.2% from the previous year, if one excludes the World Trade Center deaths from the 2001 numbers. 

The heat radiated from the hydrogen fire would be considerably less than that generated by a hydrocarbon fire and only objects immediately adjacent to the flames would be affected. A hydrogen fire produces no smoke or toxic fumes, which in many cases is the cause of death in fires. 

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