Fire Behavior...????

 There is some common ground between firefighters sitting around a kitchen table and firefighters drinking coffee. (Not that I would know, but so I have been told!)

My training bulletin for this week is a tabletop discussion suitable for the very situation I describe above.

Using what you know and understand about the chemistry of fire, write a short paragraph or describe what is happening as it relates to the following everyday scenario:

The assumption is that you are boiling water on the stove that you will use to make a cup of instant coffee, to which you will add cream and sugar.

Using principles of states of matter, cooling, heat transfer etc.. describe exactly and in detail what is occuring here and think in very small details about all of the little subtle changes taking place at each step.

Use the form below to send me you best and most detailed answers.

Use the comments section, it will take as much as you want to write. If you do submit make sure there is a name so I can figure out who has the best answer!

If you don't want to send in a response, try it out at the kitchen table among a bunch of your department members. It is amazing that as you continue the discussion and then open an Esssentials Manual you can actually go farther and farther!

Not only does this make you re-think fire behavior it helps you to do what I call "critical thinking" and break a large task into it's smallest fragments. A great skill to have in this business....Thinking logically and sequentially!