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fire

vr.tr.fire · thing-q3196

Let an agent treat fire as a process with a fuel, a growth curve and a set of interventions, so it can act on prevention, detection and response rather than only on the event.

Thing Registry Activities and processes ACT.EVT
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

Fuel and behaviour What is burning and what that means.

Fuel and class

What is burning and which class it falls in.

Fuel classification

The fuel present and the class that follows.

  1. What fuel is involved, and which fire class does it fall in? definition
  2. Which extinguishing agents are safe for it, and which would make it worse? action

Growth and stage

How fast it develops and where it is now.

Stage and trajectory

The current stage and how quickly the next arrives.

  1. What stage has this fire reached, and how long until the next? measurement
  2. After which point does intervention stop being possible? boundary
Detection and warning How it is noticed and who is told.

Detection

What detects it and how quickly.

Detection means and delay

The systems present and the time they take.

  1. What detection is in place here, and what delay does it introduce? measurement
  2. What was the last test of that system, and what did it show? provenance

Alarm and notification

Who is told, how, and what they do.

Warning and response

The people warned and the action expected of them.

  1. Who is warned when this fire is detected, and by what means? definition
  2. What action is expected of each of them, and who verifies it happened? action
Containment and escape Holding it back and getting people out.

Containment

Compartments, doors and rated construction.

Compartmentation in place

What is meant to hold, for how long.

  1. What compartmentation applies here, rated for how long? definition
  2. What breaches it in practice - propped doors, service penetrations - and how is that checked? boundary

Means of escape

Routes, capacity and time available.

Escape provision

Whether people can get out in the time the building buys.

  1. What escape routes serve this place, and what is the travel distance? measurement
  2. Who cannot use them unaided, and what provision is made for them? action
Prevention and duty Stopping it starting and who is answerable.

Ignition sources and controls

What could start it and what prevents that.

Sources and controls

The plausible sources here and the controls in place.

  1. What ignition sources are present, and what controls each? definition
  2. Which control has failed or is missing, and what follows from that? action

Responsible person and assessment

Who must assess and act.

Duty holder and assessment

Who is answerable and when they last assessed.

  1. Who holds the fire safety duty here, and when was the assessment last reviewed? provenance
  2. What must be done when the assessment is out of date or its actions are outstanding? action

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Activities and processes
Entry kind
thing
Plane
ACT
Domain
ACT.EVT
Other names and narrower kinds
sparkler, arson, arson attack, arson with intent to murder in Norway, Brandstiftung, Arson and misfire, church arson, attempted arson, firefighter arson, arson of a house of worship, Swedish torch, controlled burn

What it is Filled

The rapid oxidation of a fuel that releases heat and light, sustained as long as fuel, oxygen and heat remain together.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent treat fire as a process with a fuel, a growth curve and a set of interventions, so it can act on prevention, detection and response rather than only on the event.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • A process rather than a thing, so it has a start, a growth curve and an end rather than properties
  • Classified by fuel, and the classification decides which extinguishing agent is safe
  • The fire, the smoke and the heat cause different harms and travel at different speeds
  • Controlled and uncontrolled fire are the same process under different management

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Assist in starting a fire to damage property or harm people.
  • Block, lock or obstruct escape routes or fire doors.
  • Disable smoke detectors, sprinklers or alarms.
  • Leave an open flame or a controlled burn unattended.

Only with a human decision

  • Deciding whether people should stay or evacuate when the danger is unclear.
  • Starting a deliberate burn, such as a controlled or prescribed burn.

May

  • Detect fire and smoke and raise the alarm.
  • Guide people to safe escape routes and report the fire to emergency services.
  • Monitor fire safety equipment and escape routes and report faults.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Fire kills mostly through smoke and delay; warning people early is a duty.
  • Fire is also a cultural and practical tool, used for heat, cooking and land care.

Who is affected

  • Occupants of the building
  • Firefighters and responders
  • Neighbours and nearby residents

Owners Filled

Steward

The person responsible for the premises; the fire service when an incident is under way.

Master systems

  • Fire service incident records

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q1293220 - registry parent class
  • Q133235 - registry parent class

related

  • fuel - the fuel decides everything about how it behaves and how it is fought
  • smoke - smoke causes most fire deaths and moves far ahead of flame
  • building compartment - the fundamental fire safety strategy in buildings
  • fire detection system - detection time dominates outcomes
  • fire safety regime - prevention, means of escape and equipment are all mandated

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.fire
  • Wikidata: Q3196 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3196)
  • fire class: A, B, C, D, F or K by region names the fuel class and so the correct agent
  • incident reference: service-specific identifies a particular fire as an event

Direct properties not applicable Not applicable

  • flame temperature: 600-1200 C - depends on fuel and oxygen supply
  • time to flashover: 3-10 minutes - in a furnished room, and much faster than most people expect
  • tenable visibility: 5-10 m - the threshold below which escape becomes unlikely
  • fire resistance of construction: 30-120 minutes - what a compartment is rated to hold, tested in a furnace rather than in a fire

Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.

Recognition optional Filled

  • Smoke colour and behaviour indicate fuel and stage better than flame does
  • Flame colour indicates temperature and fuel roughly and unreliably
  • Absence of visible flame does not mean absence of fire: smouldering can persist for hours inside a structure
  • Heat, not flame, is what a thermal detector sees and what makes a door unsafe to open
  • Flame, smoke and glow, in colours and forms that indicate the fuel and the stage; smoke is usually seen first and is what kills.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • start it, deliberately or by accident
  • contain it, which is what compartments and doors are for
  • extinguish it, by removing fuel, oxygen or heat - and the right one depends on the fuel
  • detect it, which is the difference between a small fire and a total loss
  • escape from it, which is what the whole means of escape apparatus exists for

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Smoke inhalation, which causes most deaths and happens before flame arrives
  • Flashover, after which a room is not survivable and escape is over
  • Wrong extinguishing agent, which can spread a fire rather than stop it
  • Blocked or locked escape routes, the failure that turns a survivable fire into a fatal one
  • Re-ignition from smouldering material after apparent extinction

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • Building fire safety codes, which set compartmentation, escape and detection requirements
  • Extinguisher classification and siting standards, which match agent to fuel class
  • Fire risk assessment duties, which oblige a responsible person to assess and act
  • Wildland fire management rules, where the same process is managed rather than prevented

Context of use required Filled

  • In controlled form: heat, cooking, power, disposal, land management. Uncontrolled, it is the hazard everything about buildings is designed around.
  • by fuel class: solids, flammable liquids, gases, metals, cooking oils, electrical
  • by setting: structure, vehicle, wildland, industrial
  • by stage: ignition, growth, flashover, fully developed, decay

Sources Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q3196: fire - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia: Fire - general description of the item

Open questions

  • Should the registry model fire the process, the incident and the risk separately, since duties attach to the risk and records to the incident?
  • How should fuel class be represented when a real fire involves several classes at once?
  • What is the right way to represent time in this model, given that every important fact about a fire is a function of minutes elapsed?

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q3196/spec.json