1
00:00:00,334 --> 00:00:03,270
[music playing]

2
00:00:03,303 --> 00:00:06,139
- How much do you really know about fire?

3
00:00:06,173 --> 00:00:09,309
Stop, drop, and roll that intro.

4
00:00:09,343 --> 00:00:12,579
[music playing]

5
00:00:12,613 --> 00:00:15,349
all: "Our World"!
[laughter]

6
00:00:15,382 --> 00:00:16,583
- Fire can be helpful.

7
00:00:16,617 --> 00:00:19,052
We can cook with it.
It keeps us warm.

8
00:00:19,086 --> 00:00:21,922
But it also can be very dangerous.

9
00:00:21,955 --> 00:00:25,893
Firefighters here in our world
work really hard to keep us safe.

10
00:00:25,926 --> 00:00:27,561
- We are here 24 hours,

11
00:00:27,594 --> 00:00:30,464
so in the event
that a fire does come out

12
00:00:30,497 --> 00:00:32,766
and we are dispatched to the fire,

13
00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:35,903
we are alerted through
our dispatching system.

14
00:00:35,936 --> 00:00:37,404
So the tones will go off.
[alarm ringing]

15
00:00:37,437 --> 00:00:39,873
That is a NASA call.

16
00:00:39,907 --> 00:00:41,842
[laughs]
Over the sound speakers,

17
00:00:41,875 --> 00:00:45,145
it'll tell us what type of call
that we're gonna be going to.

18
00:00:45,179 --> 00:00:48,215
Typically we have two minutes

19
00:00:48,248 --> 00:00:52,953
to get out to our truck and out
of the building en route to the call.

20
00:00:52,986 --> 00:00:55,622
If it is a fire call,
everybody but the driver

21
00:00:55,656 --> 00:00:59,459
has put on all of their--
their bunker gear.

22
00:00:59,493 --> 00:01:03,163
Strapped into our seats of our fire truck
is our air packs.

23
00:01:03,197 --> 00:01:05,966
So we sit in the seat,
put our air packs on,

24
00:01:05,999 --> 00:01:09,203
put our seatbelts on,
and then we drive to the call,

25
00:01:09,236 --> 00:01:10,838
lights and sirens.

26
00:01:10,871 --> 00:01:14,241
It's not really possible
to make anything truly fireproof.

27
00:01:14,274 --> 00:01:18,378
There's fire-resistant and fire-retardant.

28
00:01:18,412 --> 00:01:21,048
Fire-retardant is just different fibers
or chemicals

29
00:01:21,081 --> 00:01:25,319
that can help suppress something
from catching fire,

30
00:01:25,352 --> 00:01:27,287
versus fire-resistant,

31
00:01:27,321 --> 00:01:29,022
like our fire gear that we wear,

32
00:01:29,056 --> 00:01:30,057
our PPE.

33
00:01:30,090 --> 00:01:33,427
It'll protect us to a certain extent.

34
00:01:33,460 --> 00:01:36,763
So, when we get to the call,
if it is truly a fire,

35
00:01:36,797 --> 00:01:39,533
we will hook our hoses
into the fire hydrant

36
00:01:39,566 --> 00:01:42,769
and then pull the hoses and the nozzles
off of our truck,

37
00:01:42,803 --> 00:01:44,037
put our gear on,

38
00:01:44,071 --> 00:01:46,840
put a mask on,
and it attaches to our air pack.

39
00:01:46,874 --> 00:01:50,477
Put our helmet on and we're ready to go
inside the fire and fight it

40
00:01:50,511 --> 00:01:53,614
or, in the event that somebody does
need to be rescued,

41
00:01:53,647 --> 00:01:58,185
we go and also rescue them
while we are also putting the fire out.

42
00:01:58,218 --> 00:02:02,623
- Firefighters are in every community
and help is just a phone call away.

43
00:02:02,656 --> 00:02:06,059
But did you know that NASA
also works on fire safety?

44
00:02:06,093 --> 00:02:09,530
We have Dr. Gary Ruff
from NASA's Glenn Research Center

45
00:02:09,563 --> 00:02:12,232
here in the hot seat to tell us
all about fire.

46
00:02:12,266 --> 00:02:13,567
Fire away!

47
00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,803
- For a fire to start,
you've got to have some kind of fuel,

48
00:02:16,837 --> 00:02:18,872
something that can burn,

49
00:02:18,906 --> 00:02:21,041
and oxygen present.

50
00:02:21,074 --> 00:02:24,244
But probably most of all,
you need some external heat

51
00:02:24,278 --> 00:02:27,548
so that you can raise the temperature
up to where reactions begin.

52
00:02:27,581 --> 00:02:31,318
You suppress fires by removing one of
those three things that I said it needed,

53
00:02:31,351 --> 00:02:34,821
whether it was fuel, oxygen, or heat.

54
00:02:34,855 --> 00:02:41,094
And so some of the fire suppression agents
work by chemical means.

55
00:02:41,128 --> 00:02:45,632
Essentially that stops the reaction
between fuel and oxygen.

56
00:02:45,666 --> 00:02:48,902
Other things like water, you know,
tend to cool a surface,

57
00:02:48,936 --> 00:02:50,904
and so that puts it out.

58
00:02:50,938 --> 00:02:53,907
Or you can sometimes use
a foam fire suppressant,

59
00:02:53,941 --> 00:02:56,910
which makes a layer
between the fuel and the oxygen,

60
00:02:56,944 --> 00:02:59,279
so essentially oxygen doesn't get to it.

61
00:02:59,313 --> 00:03:02,182
In a space fire, you still need
the same kinds of things,

62
00:03:02,216 --> 00:03:05,085
you know, heat and fuel
and--and oxygen.

63
00:03:05,118 --> 00:03:09,256
You generally need some type of flow
to bring oxygen to it.

64
00:03:09,289 --> 00:03:11,959
And that causes it to have
a little bit different shape.

65
00:03:11,992 --> 00:03:14,127
One of the big things
that I've been working on

66
00:03:14,161 --> 00:03:15,929
in the last several years

67
00:03:15,963 --> 00:03:19,833
is the Saffire series of experiments.

68
00:03:19,867 --> 00:03:22,236
We wanted to see how fast those would burn

69
00:03:22,269 --> 00:03:23,971
and just some of
the burning characteristics.

70
00:03:24,004 --> 00:03:27,241
- Fire acts differently in space
than it does here on our world.

71
00:03:27,274 --> 00:03:29,076
But it's still dangerous.

72
00:03:29,109 --> 00:03:32,279
If there's a fire here on Earth,
we call the fire department.

73
00:03:32,312 --> 00:03:35,949
But what can astronauts do
if there's a fire on a spacecraft?

74
00:03:35,983 --> 00:03:38,051
Is there a space fire department?

75
00:03:38,085 --> 00:03:41,054
- Unfortunately, there is
no space fire department.

76
00:03:41,088 --> 00:03:43,357
That's why we have to give them tools

77
00:03:43,390 --> 00:03:45,792
so that they can detect a fire,
fight the fire,

78
00:03:45,826 --> 00:03:48,729
and recover from the fire
while they're living in their house.

79
00:03:48,762 --> 00:03:50,831
You want to be able to detect the fire

80
00:03:50,864 --> 00:03:52,199
as quickly as you can,

81
00:03:52,232 --> 00:03:55,836
before bad things happen
and it harms some of the equipment.

82
00:03:55,869 --> 00:03:58,572
You want to give the crew a way
to protect themselves,

83
00:03:58,605 --> 00:04:00,807
meaning whether it's breathing apparatus

84
00:04:00,841 --> 00:04:02,876
or, you know, masks,

85
00:04:02,910 --> 00:04:06,213
and then you want to give them
some way to suppress it,

86
00:04:06,246 --> 00:04:08,815
to fight the fire,
to put it out.

87
00:04:08,849 --> 00:04:12,152
Once they do that,
then you start the process of cleaning up.

88
00:04:12,186 --> 00:04:14,121
And so all of those aspects--

89
00:04:14,154 --> 00:04:18,158
detection, personal protection,
suppression, and post-fire clean-up--

90
00:04:18,192 --> 00:04:21,495
are all some of the technologies
that we work on.

91
00:04:21,528 --> 00:04:24,698
Right now, as we're talking about
exploration missions

92
00:04:24,731 --> 00:04:27,067
and people working on
the Orion capsule,

93
00:04:27,100 --> 00:04:29,770
we're working with those people
to make sure that they have

94
00:04:29,803 --> 00:04:33,240
the right smoke detectors
and the right breathing apparatus

95
00:04:33,273 --> 00:04:36,844
and the right clean-up mechanisms
and the right fire suppressants.

96
00:04:36,877 --> 00:04:39,680
- NASA is doing a lot
to keep the astronauts safe

97
00:04:39,713 --> 00:04:43,684
on the International Space Station
and as they explore farther into space.

98
00:04:43,717 --> 00:04:47,721
But can any of that fire safety
help protect us from fires here on Earth?

99
00:04:47,754 --> 00:04:50,324
- Step one is don't play with matches

100
00:04:50,357 --> 00:04:52,726
or fire or anything
without adult supervision.

101
00:04:52,759 --> 00:04:54,161
Have a smoke detector in your home.

102
00:04:54,194 --> 00:04:56,029
Go home and make sure
your smoke detector works.

103
00:04:56,063 --> 00:04:58,165
Make sure that you have batteries
in your smoke detector.

104
00:04:58,198 --> 00:04:59,466
When you change your clock,

105
00:04:59,499 --> 00:05:01,602
change your batteries
on your smoke detector.

106
00:05:01,635 --> 00:05:05,539
If you have gas in your home, make sure
you have a carbon monoxide alarm,

107
00:05:05,572 --> 00:05:09,977
so that the alarm can go off in the event
of any sort of gas leak.

108
00:05:10,010 --> 00:05:12,212
Do an EDITH drill in your home.

109
00:05:12,246 --> 00:05:13,981
Something we teach,
it's called the EDITH.

110
00:05:14,014 --> 00:05:16,450
So it's Exit Drills in the Home.

111
00:05:16,483 --> 00:05:21,388
So teaching kids and not just kids
but anybody in the family

112
00:05:21,421 --> 00:05:26,560
to, if you hear a smoke alarm going off,
to immediately exit the home.

113
00:05:26,593 --> 00:05:28,362
And always remember to shut the door.

114
00:05:28,395 --> 00:05:31,431
Shutting the door
will stop the flow of a fire.

115
00:05:31,465 --> 00:05:34,801
- The more you know about fire,
the safer you'll be.

116
00:05:34,835 --> 00:05:38,005
I'm Abby.
See you next time in "Our World."