A small fire broke out in the kitchen
when oil in a hot pan is poured. What
should be the first action to put out the
fire?
A Pour water over the fire.
B Cover the fire with a lid.
C Blow air to reduce the flame.
D Open all the windows for better
ventilation.
Ans 2:
Class : Class 5
I will show you why it should be none of them.If we pour water on the fire, the fire may die down a little, but the oil can float on the water due to is lesser density compared to H2O and therefore, can still catch fire. For option B, it depends on the type of lid. if we have a lid that is a conductor of heat, it will become a permanent 'NO TOUCH OR GO CLOSE TO' zone; if the handle of the lid is a conductor of heat, it will be hard to remove or move it to another place. And BTW, the theory that says that a fire cannot survive without O2 wont work here as the lid will have tiny gaps through which air and O2 can go through. For option C, it will definitely not work if we blow air from our mouth, but there is an exception for a fire extinguisher. For option D, the fire releases CO (Carbon monoxide) and other harmful gases into the air. So, it would be better to open the windows to let the gases go outside. Option D is the best of them all, but I said none as the problem can literally be solved by silicon dioxide (silica or sand, take your pick). We all know that sand can extinguish fires and the oil is less prone to reignite as sand is a bad conductor of heat.