Last Modified: 08/19/2024 14:11
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Policy/Procedure
1. Cylinder Fires
If the flame is around the valve, the regulator, or the threaded pressure plug, the flame can be wiped out with a wet rag or smothered with putty. Firefighters should watch out for the pressure plug blowing out while doing this.
*Note: Older style pressure plugs may be made of lead while newer plugs may be made of brass.
Fire burning from a blown pressure plug will subside in a few minutes as refrigeration of the acetone (in which the acetylene is dissolved) takes place.
Fire personnel shall protect exposed cylinders with fog streams.
When the flame from the involved cylinder is approximately one foot high, it can be extinguished with a dry chemical extinguisher by applying the agent at the base of the flame and in the same direction as the escaping gas.
When extinguishment is complete, fire personnel shall move the involved cylinder outdoors, where it will be less of a hazard.
2. Fire Inside a Cylinder
On rare occasions, un-observable flames will recede into the cylinder producing a hissing noise, and causing paint to burn off the cylinder. This is an extremely dangerous condition.
Fire personnel witnessing this condition shall cool the cylinder with a narrow fog stream.
Fire personnel shall secure nozzles in position to envelope the cylinder in spray and withdraw to a safe location until the burning process is complete.
If, upon arrival, a loud hissing or frying noise is heard and the cylinder is cherry red, swelling, or bulging, crews shall evacuate the area and stay behind a substantial barricade while directing streams on the cylinder. An explosion producing fragmentation of the cylinder is likely.
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