TEXT="Technical tip no. 1: rescue.<BR><BR>A firefighter's main purpose is to save lives. In the heart of a fire, nothing is more important than saving victims (whether they be civilian or firefighter) and evacuating them to receive medical aide.<BR>Even if victims aren't wounded, they should be put under medical observation. It isn't unusual<BR>for the first symptoms of an internal hemorhage to appear a long time after the accident."
LAST_MODIFIED="14/3/2003 11:05"
FIELD_ID="TIP_USI"
TEXT="Technical tip no. 2: protecting clues.<BR><BR>In many countries, determining the cause of a fire falls under the responsibility of the firefighters.<BR>Even when not legally responsible, they are always the main witnesses in cases of arson.<BR>A firefighter should thus identify and protect elements likely to be able to establish the cause of a fire."
LAST_MODIFIED="14/3/2003 12:21"
FIELD_ID="TIP_BANK"
TEXT="Technical tip no. 3: flash-over.<BR><BR>A fire source, even a small one, can provoke an accumulation of heat that will cause an entire room to flare up suddenly and violently: this is a flash-over.<BR>If a firefighter detects abnormal levels of gas escaping from a room, he should quickly attempt<BR>to reduce the room's temperature using water, to avoid this deadly phenomenon."
LAST_MODIFIED="14/3/2003 12:24"
FIELD_ID="TIP_STA"
TEXT="Technical tip no. 6: class B fires.<BR><BR>Class B fires are liquids (hydrocarbons, solvents, etc.) or gases on fire.<BR>A pool of combustibles or the gases they emit can sometimes ignite violently and even explode.<BR>When that sort of fire is fed by a leaking pipe, the only way to put it out is often<BR>to cut off the carburant by finding a valve on the pipe upstream of the leak."
LAST_MODIFIED="14/3/2003 12:28"
FIELD_ID="TIP_VIL"
TEXT="Technical tip no. 4: swimming pools.<BR><BR>A swimming pool, can represent a precious water reserve in an isolated area.<BR>With the help of a pump, the emergency services can feed as much as 7 or 8 times the volume of a Canadair through a canon-hose.<BR>However, a pool is often accompanied by a chlorine reserve. On contact with fire, this chemical can give off fumes sufficiently strong enough to incapacitate a man."
LAST_MODIFIED="4/11/2002 17:25"
FIELD_ID="TIP_ECO"
TEXT="Technical tip no. 8: class C fires.<BR><BR>Class C fires are those which come into contact with electrical devices (power supplies, transformers, cables).<BR>The main difficulty associated with these fires is that the electrical risk is not easy to detect.<BR>Once the problem has been identified, the use of water on 'live' objects is avoided and the electricty supply to the fire-affected area and neighbouring buildings is cut."
LAST_MODIFIED="4/11/2002 17:25"
FIELD_ID="TIP_TRA"
TEXT="Technical tip no. 7: pollution.<BR><BR>A fire naturally releases large amounts of gas. Depending on the source of the fire, the type of gas given off as well as its level of toxicity, can be very varied.<BR>Fires which come into contact with chemical substances are not only dangerous to firefighters, but also to the neighbouring population.<BR>It therefore becomes highly important for the teams to limit the spread of these toxic."
LAST_MODIFIED="4/11/2002 17:25"
FIELD_ID="TIP_FOR"
TEXT="Technical tip no. 9: forest fires.<BR><BR>Forest fires represent a very particular kind of danger. It mobilises specific means and demands the implentation of highly adapted strategies.<BR>With the help of a bulldozer, the firefighters can channel or block the fire in order to protect inhabited zones, for example.<BR>Air support from Canadairs allows some 'coup de grâce' which stop the progression of the fire's front line."
LAST_MODIFIED="4/11/2002 17:25"
FIELD_ID="TIP_CEN"
TEXT="Technical tip no. 10: class D fires.<BR><BR>Class D fires are of a metallic nature(aluminium, magnesium, sodium).<BR>These fires give off intense heat(sometimes over 1000°C) and can be difficult to locate due to the low visibility level of their flames.<BR> The use of water is formally prohibited as it only serves to intensify the flames instead of fighting them.<BR>Only adapted extinguishing substances should be used."
LAST_MODIFIED="4/11/2002 17:25"
FIELD_ID="TIP_QUA"
TEXT="Technical tip no. 5: backdraft.<BR><BR>Combustive gases can accumulate in a confined area without burning.<BR>When a door, for example, is opened to a room, the gases coming into contact with the oxygen from outside can ignite suddenly and explode with a characteristic sucking noise: that is a backdraft.<BR>To avoid a backdraft, firefighters should make holes to help the gases to escape from the affected area.<BR>A backdraft is detected by the presence of a grayish-yellow coloured smoke."
