James Mendoza
San Jose Fire Department
Fire Captain
How Fire Fighters Use Chemistry
James Mendoza is a Fire Captain and 22. year veteran of the San Jose Fire Department. He is also an educator who teaches the application of chemistry and physics principles to the art of fire fighting. He has traveled the world to learn how fire fighters in other countries deal with fires and in a search for better jokes. He served on the advisory panel for Underwriters Laboratory Coordinated Fire Attack Study, and on the committee that wrote the curriculum for the State of California's Structural Fire Attack course.
The Fire Triangle describes the components necessary for a fire, while "flammable range" is a chemistry concept that describes when a gas phase fuel will burn. The gases generated in structure fires are one of the largest components of fuel a fire fighter must deal with.
Understanding the fire triangle and flammable range assists fire fighters in dealing successfully with structure fires. We will examine how propane burns to assist us in understanding the chemistry of flammable gases and how it can impact fire fighters.
2nd Period
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