What is a Sinkhole?
• They can also occur from the over pumping
A sinkhole is essentially any hole in the ground
created by erosion and the drainage of water. They
can be just a few feet across or large enough to
swallow whole buildings. Although they’re often
the result of natural processes, they can also be
triggered by human activity.
Though most are only 10 to 12 feet
in diameter, sinkholes have been known to expand
to hundreds of feet in diameter.
How are Sinkholes Formed?
Artificial Processes
Sinkholes can be triggered by human activities such
as:
Over withdrawal of groundwater
Diverting surface water from a large area and
concentrating it in a single point
Artificially creating ponds of surface water
Drilling new water wells
*Sinkholes also form from human activity, such as
the collapse of abandoned mines and salt cavern
storage in salt domes.
• Sinkholes occur in urban areas due to water
main breaks or sewer collapses when old
pipes give way.
and extraction of groundwater and
subsurface fluids.
*Sinkholes can also form when natural
water-drainage patterns are changed and new
water-diversion systems are developed.
* Some sinkholes form when the land surface is
changed, such as when industrial and runoff-
storage ponds are created; the substantial weight
of the new material can trigger an underground
collapse of supporting material, thus causing a
sinkhole.
Natural Processes
Rainfall percolating, or seeping, through the
soil absorbs carbon dioxide and reacts with
decaying vegetation, creating a slightly acidic water.
That water moves through spaces and cracks
underground, slowly dissolving limestone and
creating a network of cavities and voids. As the
limestone dissolves, pores and cracks are enlarged
and carry even more acidic water. (Suffosion)
Sinkholes are formed when the land surface above
collapses or sinks into the cavities or when surface
material is carried downward into the voids.
Drought, along with resulting high groundwater
withdrawals, can make conditions favorable for
sinkholes to form. Also, heavy rains after droughts
often cause enough pressure on the ground to
create sinkholes.
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the
exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing
heat, light, and various reaction products.

Fire hazards

• Include all types of live flames, causes of

sparks, hot objects, and chemicals that are
potential for ignition, or that can aggravate a
fire to become large and uncontrolled.

• Include all types of potential threats to fire

prevention practices, fire fighting, built-in fire
safety systems and situations that restrict the
escape of people from an affected building or
area in the event of a fire.

• Fire hazards pose threats to life and property.

It is, therefore, the prime object of safety
systems to detect, remove or reduce the risk of
fire threatened by these potential hazards.

Common fire hazards

Fire tetrahedron
• All types of flames used for any work
Stages of fire
• Electric wires, higher loads, loose connections
and old electrical equipment 1. Ignition(incipient)

• All cooking and heat generating appliances 2. Growth stage

• All works and situations where fire is essential * flashover- non explosive, abrupt spread of fire
such as welding, cutting, metal casting etc. through the air

• Improper storage of tools, equipment and 1. Fully-developed fire stage

• items during and at the end of the day’s work 2. Decay stage

• Smoking and personal lighters and matches * backdraf- is an explosive fire.

• Fireworks, pyro-techniques, ammunitions and

explosives

• Improper and unauthorized storage of

flammable and hazardous materials and
chemical especially the flammable ones

• Insufficient capacity and numbers of

emergency exits and stairs

• Hindrance to sight or reach fire fighting

equipment, markings and alarm systems

• Insufficient numbers and types of fire

extinguishers

• Absence of fire detection and alarm system

• Violation of building and fire codes Causes of building fires

Elements of fire 1. Unattended cooking equipment and other

household fire sources
• The triangle illustrates the three elements a fire
needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing 2. Electrical appliances and wiring problems
agent (usually oxygen). - Improper house wiring
3. Haphazardly stored flammable liquids and other • These can also be used to put out class A fires
easily combustible materials in kitchens.

Fireworks and firecrackers • 5. CLEAN AGENT- also known as

HALOGENATED extinguishers, contain halon
4. arson
agents and halocarbon agents (which are less
Fighting different types of fires harmful to the ozone).

• CLASS A – fires involve fuel such as cloth, wood,
paper, plastics , rubber, and trash
• CLASS B – fires involve combustible liquid fuel
such as alcohols, gasoline, lacquers, oil-based
paint, petroleum oil and grease, solvents, and
combustible gas fuel such as propane and
butane. Cooking oil and grease are not included-
these fall under another class
• These put out the fire mainly by breaking the
continuity of the chemical reaction of the fire
tetrahedron and are used commonly for class B
and C fires
• 6. DRY POWDER- extinguishers put out only
class D fires by preventing the oxygen and fuel
from interacting or by removing the heat in the
fire tetrahedron.

• CLASS C – fires involve fuel belong to either • 7. WATER MIST- put out primary class A fires,
class A or B but which also involve powered but could work as well for class C fires by
electrical equipment like home appliances, isolating the heat element from the other
motors, and transformers elements of the fire tetrahedron

• CLASS D – fires involve combustible metals, such The rules for fighting fires
as aluminum, lithium, magnesium, potassium,
• ACTIVATE the building’s fire alarm system or
sodium, titanium and zirconium. Automobiles
dial 117 ( the national emergency telephone
usually contain most of these combustible
number for the Philippines ) to notify the fire
metals
department of the incident through call or text.
• CLASS K – fires involve fuels such as cooking oils
• ASSIST- anybody who is in need of help to
and greases (animal- and vegetable –fat
escape the building , without putting your own
derived).
life at risk.
Choosing fire extinguishers
• ATTEMPT – to put out the fire only after doing
• 1. WATER AND FOAM - water and foam these:
extinguishers both isolate the heat element
* size of the fire
while foam extinguishers block oxygen to
prevent it from interacting with other elements * presence of toxic smoke
in the fire tetrahedron. Water extinguishers
* A means of escape
should be used only for Class A fires and not on
Class B or C fires because these could cause a * instinct
class B fire to spread and Class C fire to create
an electric shock hazard.

• 3. DRY CHEMICAL – extinguishers put out the

fire mainly by breaking the continuity of the
chemical reaction of the fire tetrahedron.

• The multipurpose dry chemical extinguishers is

the most widely used extinguisher which can
be used to put out class A, B, and C fires.

• This type of fire extinguisher also works by

preventing the oxygen and fuel from
interacting in Class A fires.

• 4. WET CHEMICAL- extinguishers remove the

heat in the fire tetrahedron and prevent the
fire from starting again by preventing the
oxygen and fuel from interacting.

• These are used to extinguish class K fires,

especially commercial cooking equipment like
deep fryers.