The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1904-04-14
ABOUT PUTTING OUT FIRES.
Not Many People Really Understand
How It Is That Water Ex-
tincuishes Flames.

"How does water put out a fire." is
question that seems easy enough to an
swer, but when it comes to be explained
the person who attempts it, unless he is
versed in chemistry and science, is liable
to find himself in hole, says the Ban
gor (Me.) Commercial. The question
seems simple enough on the face of 1t,
but there are many simple chemical
problems that go to make 1t anything
but easy to solve.
In order to understand the action of
water on fire one must have some init
mate knowledge of the properties of fire.
Fire." says Prof. Garrett P. Serviss.
lis form of chemical combustion in
which flames make their appearance.
There may be combustion without
flames, but not without heat. Wood in
burning always gives of flames, as do
some kinds of coal, but there are other
kinds of coal that do not.
I'm the process of combustion, there
must be two things, at least, concerned.
In the first place, there must be the
combustible, or thing that burns, and in
the next case there must be some sup
porter Of combustion. When wood
burns in the open air the wood is the
combustible and the air the supporter
of the combustion"
Bangor people who have seen big
fires have probably noticed that during
the progress of the blaze there have
been times when the flames seemingly
died out, would blaze up again with
redoubled fury. The reason for this is
that the water which has been poured
on has supplied oxygen to the flames,
giving them renewed vigor. This is the
case in a high wind, when the fire be-
coming strengthened by. the fresh oxy-
gen, gets f1ercer and fiercer and is thus
harder to put out. In dead calm,
fire is always easy to extinguish for
the reason that all the oxygen in the
vicinity of the flames has been con-
sumed.
A little water is of no use in ex-
tinguishing a fire for the very reason
that it is not enough to Offset the heat
Of the flames, but is set off into it's
component parts and is burnt up in the
flames-the oxygen only making the
flames fiercer.
The question now arises how lot of
water, instead of supporting combustion,
does the opposite and extinguishes the
flames. The reason is that huge VOL
ume of water falling upon the flames
is too great for the heat Of the flames
to disassociate into its parts, but in
stead sort of extinguishes the flames.
Water has remarkable property, that
of high specific heat. Many people in
watching burning building have no.
ticed the fremen pouring streams of
water on the blaze and the accompany
ing kissing noise and rising steam. The
formation of the steam has suddenly
drawn an immense amount of heat from
the combustion going on in the building
and so has tended to cool off the build
ing materials and subdue the fury Of
the flames
Because of the great specific heat ca
pacity of water and the consequent alb
the steam, there is not enough heat left
to release the oxygen from the hydro
gen, or, in other words to set the two
combined gases burning, and thus the
constant streams of water pouring in
and on the fire and the clouds of steam
rising serve as a sort of blanket, which
shuts off the air from the flames and
prevents them from obtaining more oxy-
gen. This constantly being repeated
tends to deaden the blaze more and
more until it finally dies out.