Question | Answer |
Damming | The stopping of a body of water, which at the same time stops the spread of the spilled material. |
Dead Load | The weight of the building materials and any part of the building permanently attached or built in. |
Decontamination | The physical removal of contaminants (chemicals) from people, equipment, or the environment. |
Defensive Attack | A calculated attack on part of a problem or situation in an effort to hold ground until sufficient resources are available to convert to an offensive form of attack. |
Deflagrates | Rapid burning, which in reality with regard to explosions can be considered a slow explosion, but is traveling at a lesser speed than a detonation. |
Dehydration | A loss of water and vital fluids in the body. |
Deluge Systems | Protective system designed to protect areas that may have a fast-spreading fire engulfing the entire area. All sprinkler heads are open. When operable, water flows throughout allowing total coverage. A separate system senses the fire and activates system. |
Density | The mass per unit volume of a substance under specified conditions of pressure and temperature. |
Design load | A load the engineer planned for or anticipated in the structural design. |
Diking | A defensive method of stopping a spill. A common dike is constructed of dirt or sand and is used to hold a spilled product. In some facilities, a dike may be pre-constructed, such as around a tank farm. |
Dilution | The addition of a material to the spilled material to make it less hazardous. In most cases water is used to dilute a spilled material, although other chemicals could be used. |
Direct Fire Attack | An attack on the fire made by aiming the flow of water directly at the material on fire. |
Displacement | The relocating of major parts (ie: doors, roof, dash, steering column) of a vehicle. |
Distributed Load | A load applied equally over a broad area. |
Division | Command designation responsible for operations within an assigned geographic area. |
Drafting | The pumping of water from a static source by taking advantage of atmospheric pressure to force water from the source into the pump. |
Dry Chemicals | Dry extinguishing agents divided into two categories. Regular dry chemicals work on Class B and C fires; multi-purpose dry chemicals work on Class A, B, and C fires. |
Dry Hydrant | A piping system for drafting from a static water source with a fire department connection at one end and a strainer at the water end. |
Dry Pipe Systems | Air under pressure replaces the water in the system to protect against freezing temperatures. The sprinkler control valve uses a dry pipe valve to keep pressurized air maintained above with the supply water under pressure below the valve. |
Dry Powders | Extinguishing agents for Class D fires. |
Dutchman | A short fold of hose or a reverse fold that is used when loading hose and a coupling comes at a point where a fold should take place or when two sets of couplings end up on top of or next to each other. |
Eccentric Load | A load perpendicular to the cross section of the supporting element that does not pass through the center of mass. |
Eductor | Device that siphons a liquid from a container into a moving stream. |
Emergency Decon | The rapid removal of a material from a person when that person (or responder) has become contaminated and needs immediate cleaning. Most emergency decon setups use a single hoseline to perform a quick gross decon of a person with water. |
Emergency Response Guidebook | Book provided by the DOT that assists the first responder in making decisions primarily at transportation-related hazardous materials incidents. |
Encapsulated Suit | A chemical suit that covers the responder, including the breathing apparatus. Usually associated with Level A clothing, which is gas and liquid tight, but there are some Level B styles that are fully encapsulated but not gas or liquid tight. |
Endothermic Reaction | Chemical reactions that absorb heat or require heat to bond atoms or molecules. |
Engine Company | The unit designation of a group of firefighters assigned to a piece of apparatus designed to deliver water to the fire scene. |
Extricate | To set free, release, or disentangle a patient from an entrapment situation. |
Etiological | A form of a hazard that includes biological, viral, and other disease-causing materials. |
Evacuation | The movement of people from an area, usually their homes, to another area that is considered to be safe. People are evacuated when they are no longer safe in their current area. |
Evaporation | A process in which the molecules of a liquid are liberated into the atmosphere at a rate greater than the rate at which the molecules return to the liquid. Ultimately the liquid becomes fully airborn in a gaseous state. |
Exposure | A contact with a potentially disease-producing organism; the contact does not necessarily produce the disease in the exposed individual. |
Exhauster | A device to speed the operation of the dry pipe valve by detecting the decrease in air pressure. It helps bleed off air. |
Exit Drills in the Home | A fire survival program to encourage people to practice fire drills from their home or residence. |
Exothermic Reaction | A chemical reaction that releases heat, such as when two chemicals are mixed and the resulting mixture is hot. |
Exposure Fire | Any combustible item threatened by something burning nearby that has caught on fire. |
Extension Ladder | A ladder consisting of two or more sections that has the ability to be extended to a desired height through the use of a halyard. |
External Floating Roof Tank | Tank with the roof that covers the liquid within the tank exposed on the outside. The roof floats on the top of the liquid, which does not allow for vapors to build up. |
Extremely Hazardous Substances | A list of 366 substances that the EPA has determined present an extreme risk to the community if released. |