I pulled into the reserved parking place that the fire department had provided for me. It was a typical cold windy September day in Chicago. The car next to me was a bright yellow Ferrari. Rich $250,000+ car, I thought to myself better not put a ding in that with a door. One of the guys from another fire department walked up as I was getting out of my brand new 1965 Dodge Dart GT. He said, “You are parked in a swanky neighborhood!” We laughed and went on to class. The people in the class were volunteer fire fighters and paid volunteers from departments that are part of the Box Nine Dispatch District. Box Nine was made up of nine departments that are very progressive. That is how we are able to be here working on our Fire Science Degrees. Later on in the year I am going to be training as part of a new program called Medic Aides as one of the volunteers. We made our way to the class. The professor walked in and threw his text on the desk, and said “You are all getting this class for free courtesy of your departments, but that does not get you a free ride in this class. In this class you will study and study and study some more. You will take precise notes in the class, read the entire book cover to cover and the questions on the exams will be answered word for word from the book or from the class lecture, no exceptions. Any questions?”
“What happens if one or all of us get called out during class? “Ah, you are planning ahead.” said the professor. “Simply have one of the other guys take notes for you. Excuse me Donna, it is not an all-male class. You are responsible for notes if you are not in class. I don’t think you will all get called out at once, but if that happens, we will continue in the next class.”
“Fire Chemistry 101 is an extensive, in depth chemistry class. If you took a high school chemistry class you should not have a problem in this class. If you did not, you are in trouble. I am sure we are all familiar with the old fire triangle, Fuel, Oxygen and the dreaded ignition source or sources. Well, now the experts have decided that there is one more factor, chemical reaction. Any of you ever hear that before?”
Robert said, “They talked about that at the Ansul Fire Training School. The new types of extinguishing agents they are working on are going to work on that principle. “Did they say what these agents are?” asked the professor.
Robert replied, “The new ABC dry chemical works by breaking the chemical reaction between oxygen and fuel and then coats the fuel or in the case liquid fuel, it breaks the reaction and forms surfactant over the fuel to lessen the chance of re-ignition. The new class “B” extinguishing agent forms a layer of surfactant.” “What is surfactant?” the professor asked. “It is a foam that the chemical forms on top of the fuel.”
“Very good,” replied the professor, “we will look at this more in depth later in the class. The first side of fire chemistry we want to study is the removal of heat from the fire. What have we fought fire with for years? Water, water absorbs the heat from the fire, is that correct? Anybody? Steve.” “No it is not correct, it absorbs the heat from the fuel.” Steve replied. “Correct, you should all know that,” the professor stated.
The bell rang for the end of class and the instructor quickly told us that we should read the first three chapters and there will be quiz next class. “You are dismissed,” he said.
Steve and I walked out to the car, just in time to see that beautiful blonde haired girl get in the Ferrari and pull out. “That is an unbelievably gorgeous girl! She is way beyond our league,” I said. “That instructor has got to go. He has no idea what it takes to be a fire fighter. He has a superiority complex.”