Fire Safety RACE by Using Fire Extinguisher

Fire is a chemical reaction that requires suitable conditions and necessary components to ignite and propagate further. The resulted fire is useful for daily routine activities. The same is beneficial for industrial purposes as well. The controlled fire may cause serious loss of property or even human life/lives. The tremendous serious losses occurred in history just because of unsafe use of fire, which direly demanded some Standard Operating Procedures for; the safe use of fire/ Fire Protection and Rescue/Evacuation in case of any fire incident.

The fire safety code RACE (Remove, Alarm, Confined and Extinguish or Evacuate) is an acronym to memorize a procedure for safely rescuing trapped victims from fire incidents that occur at any place that could be a workplace or any other. The employee or staff must memorize this term for safe rescue and appropriate response in any fire incident.

Remove

Remove all combustible material, Wood, Paper, cloth, rubber, boards, etc., which can cause propagation of ignited fire on a priority basis but must ensure personal safety.

Alarm

Activate the alarm installed alarm system immediately and warn the surrounding workers or employees for safe evacuation. The alarm system may be electronic or manual, or even the person may loudly warn in case of a limited workplace having a small number of employees. During this procedure, one should call emergency service by dialing 1122(Punjab Emergency Service Department) in case of Pakistan or any other Emergency Service available in the respective country or city.

Confine

Once all employees have been evacuated and emergency service/services have been called, the ignited fire should be confined by closing the door, windows, or shutter if possible. But there is no need to do this if the magnitude of risk is high. Personal safety should always be on top priority.

The utilities (Electricity, Gas, etc.) to the facility, having a fire, should be cut off immediately.

Extinguish/Evacuate

The trained official/employee should use a fire extinguisher of suitable material following the fire class to timely extinguish the fire. If the scale of fire is small and controllable, then it is advised they should respond to the fire. During the response, The individual should ensure personal safety. The PASS (Pull the Safety Pin, Aim at the seat of the fire, Squeeze the handle, Sweep side by side) acronym for the use of fire is recommended. In case the scale of fire is beyond the scope of a fire extinguisher, then there is no need to put yourself in danger. Just follow the predefined emergency evacuation plan. Overall, fire safety can ensure Fire Safety by using the RACE properly. Just explore our website to learn more about Road safety and many others.

[Facebook]

John

Hi, I am John Smit a Captain in Fire Department City of Newyork with over years of experience in the field of Firefighting and HSE. My passion for fire safety started when I was a young boy and witnessed a neighbor’s house go up in flames along with precious lives. Since then, I had dedicated my life to ensuring the safety of buildings, properties, and individuals in case of a fire and medical emergencies.