– How exactly does water put out a fire? Is it a smothering thing, or a chemical reaction?
In: Chemistry
Fire needs three things to exist. Heat, Fuel and oxygen. To put out a fire you need to take at least one of the three things out of an equation. There are also different types of fire. A type A (Alpha) fire are things that leave an ash. Wood is an example. A type B (Bravo) fire is a burning liquid like oil. Type C (Charlie) is flammable gases like propane. Type D (delta) are burning metals and a Type E (Echo) is an electrical fire.
For your type A fires water is an excellent way to remove the heat and maybe a bit of smothering to break the triangle. However, using water on a type B, C, D, or even E may very well make things worse. Put water on an oil fire and you have an explosion because it displaces the oil which allows it to burn faster. (More surface area). Dry smothering is the best way to go with that. Sand, dirt, etc. Water can be used on a gas fire to cool it, but a very specific cooling mist pattern over a wide area must be used. Better just to shut off the fuel source if possible. Water should probably never be used on metal fires unless you KNOW exactly what kind of metal you are dealing with. Some metals will explode in contact with water. Electrical is kind of obvious because of the chance of electrocution. Shut off the power then treat as a type A fire.
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