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🖇Performance Task: Write-Up

Fire Hazard: Analyzing the Different Causes of Fire

A fire is a bright, hot, and dangerous thing that can spread quickly. Specifically, it is a combustion or burning, in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air and typically give out bright light, heat, and smoke. The discovery of fire has brought significant advancements to people and industries. Aside from being used as an external source of heat and light, it is also used as a power source. Natural fires of low intensity may benefit the environment and restore ecological balance through the removal of pests and plants that compete with other species for nutrients. However, fire brings about the destruction of buildings and the loss of livelihood and lives. It mainly occurs because of negligence and lack of awareness of the different fire hazards. Thus, in order to prevent this from happening, you should know the main cause of fire and fire hazards and to learn how to deal with it. From this knowledge you are now equipped to make a contingency plan for your family and community.

The causes of fire are divided into two which is the Natural Causes and Human-made incidents. Natural causes of fire are due to unpredictable events in nature. Natural causes of fire include lightning, spontaneous combustion and volcanic activities. Lightning strikes any flammable materials that can ignite the trees and cause forest fires or Wildfire. This is a frequent cause of fires. While spontaneous combustion occurs when a material is capable of producing or accumulating its own heat, which may lead to an increase in temperature without drawing heat from its surroundings. If the material reaches its ignition temperature, it will start to burn without any source of fire and that is called spontaneous combustion (Bitonio 2013). Moreover, fire could also be caused by volcano activities. It releases hot gases, ash, and lava during volcanic activity, and if these hot materials come into contact with flammable materials, they could cause a fire.

On the other hand, Human-made incidents are products of human errors or machine failures such as unattended cooking, improper disposal of ci******es, faulty wirings, flammable liquids, and candles. The most significant contributing factor to the fire was unattended cooking, Bitonio (2013) stated. It is vital to know the most effective measures that can be taken when a kitchen fire starts, since this part of the house is one of the most visited and vulnerable areas for fires. Another hazard is improper disposal of ci******es. Mostly, cigarette fires are due to improper disposal of cigarette butts that are still lit. Usually it's going to start out in the open, spreading until it gets close to some structures. In some cases, human negligence, such as falling asleep while smoking or near flammable materials, is the cause of house fires caused by ci******es. Electrical problems are also one of the causes of structure fires and fire deaths. Fires due to electrical faults are caused by defective wiring and malfunctioning equipment or appliances. Another factor that can cause fire is flammable liquids.The most frequent combustible substances at home that can cause fires if not safely stored, in particular because they react to some of the things like heat, are petrol, kerosene or any methylic substance. Lastly, It is not actually a hazard but can be a potential hazard especially when left unattended as it can easily burst into flames and cause fire.

It is essential to have knowledge of the potential causes of fire because fire awareness is not a mere suggestion; it's a necessity. It enables us to avoid potential disasters, teaches us how to deal with emergency situations and promotes a culture of security for both ourselves and those around us. By understanding and respecting the power of fire, we can transform this primal force from a potential threat into a source of warmth and light, forever illuminating the path towards a safer future.

📎 Activity 8: Disaster Preparedness and Awareness Campaign
🗓 March 14, 2024

According to Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), there is a total of 2,742 fire incidents nationwide recorded in the first two months of 2024. They also compared this data to the same period of 2023 and they found out that there is a significant increase which is 23% this year. In addition, fire incidents in Tacloban City is becoming recurrent these past few days and in order to minimize it, we need to learn how to avoid this type of incident and to be prepared for what might happen. But don't worry, I am here to give you some tips to ensure your safety. The picture below contains some simple tips on how to avoid causing fire in your house.

📎 Activity 7: Blog
🗓 March 5, 2024

📎 Activity 6: Vulnerability Case Study
🗓 March 1, 2024

📎 Activity 5: Hazard Mapping
🗓 February 27, 2024

The picture below shows the possible hazards and risks that can be observed inside the campus. With this provided map, it can help as a guide for improving the disaster preparedness by making an effective emergency planning and response and resilience building efforts considering the hazards and risks shown in the map.

📎 Activity 4: Disaster Perspectives (Political Perspective in Flood)
🗓 February 20, 2024

A flood occurs when a significant volume of water spills, over areas that're typically dry. This can be triggered by rainfall swift snow melting, coastal storms or the failure of dams or levees. Floods pose risks leading to property and infrastructure destruction. They also disrupt lives and can tragically result in loss of life. Floods are complex events with significant social, economic, and environmental impacts, and as such, they often become politicized. In political perspectives, government can be blamed for the after-effect of the said disaster because they are the one responsible for addressing the hazards and risks, planning and taking prevention measures, and to protect vulnerable communities. It can also leads to calls for stricter environmental laws and international cooperation on flood control.

📎 Activity 3.1: Infographics
🗓 February 15, 2024

Following the risk assessment completed in Activity 2, the DisaSTAR group of 12 - R. Barba is now ready to present their findings.

Choosing earthquakes as our focal point, we have identified 4 risks that would increase the susceptibility of people inside the campus to injury. These are the toppling of trees, landslides, fire, and stampede. Attached to the following pictures are recommendations on how these risks can be mitigated. We hope that upon identification, the appropriate response to these hazards will be leniently implemented by the concerned agencies.

📎 Activity 2: Risk Assessment Form
🗓 February 14, 2024

This activity is done by the group "Disastar" from Grade 12 - R. Barba.

In this activity, we are tasked to identify the possible hazards in Leyte National High School when a certain event occurs through investigating the risks and risk factors inside the premises of the school. In order to really address the hazards, we are also tasked to identify who are responsible in addresing this type of problem to create a safe environment for the students.

📎 Activity 1: Disaster, Risk, and Risk Factors
🗓: February 13, 2024

This activity is done by the group "DISASTAR" from Grade 12 - R. Barba.

We are tasked to identify the disaster from a random picture that is given to us. We are also instructed to creatively explain what are the risk and risk factors involved in the said disaster. We identified the picture as a "Nuclear Waste Disaster" since it can be observe in the picture that there are chemical plants and the environment around it looks damaged. Moreover, we explained the disaster, risk, and risk factors through a News-like roleplay.