Fire Safety and Emergency Procedures
What the exam tests
Expect questions on fire chemistry, extinguisher selection, occupier duties under fire legislation, and the correct sequence for discovering a fire or handling an evacuation as a warden in a building you do not control.
Core knowledge
- Fire triangle: heat, fuel, oxygen. Remove any one and the fire dies.
- Classes (European system): A solids, B flammable liquids, C gases, D metals, F cooking oils. Electrical fires are handled by isolating power and using CO2 or dry powder.
- Extinguishers: water for Class A only; foam for A and B; CO2 for electrical and B; dry powder multi-purpose; wet chemical for Class F.
- Occupier duties cover means of escape kept clear, fire doors kept closed and not propped, emergency lighting, signage, and maintained extinguishers.
- On discovery: raise the alarm, evacuate, call 999 or 112 with address and nature of the fire, close doors behind you, never use lifts, report to the assembly point for roll call, and do not re-enter until the fire service declares it safe.
Worked example
A small fire starts in a wastepaper bin in a store room. Reasoning: Class A material, small and contained. A trained operative with a clear escape route may use water or CO2 and must abandon immediately if the fire grows or smoke thickens. If the fire is larger than a bin, or the room is smoke-logged, the correct action is to close the door, raise the alarm and evacuate.
Mark-losing traps
- Using water on live electrical equipment.
- Propping fire doors open for deliveries.
- Staying to fight a spreading fire, or re-entering for belongings.
- Forgetting that 112 works alongside 999.