Fire Chemistry, Explosive Materials, and Situational Awareness for First Responders
The chemistry of fire and the precursors that comprise explosive materials go hand-in-hand. Explosive materials could come in the form of military-grade, commercial-grade, and homemade chemicals. First responders must remain safe when responding to calls where there is a possibility to encounter explosive materials. Safety comes in the form of awareness first, operations second, and technical last. First responders must know the precursors that they encounter when arriving on scene for what may seem like a routine call such as smoke in the area or burnt food on the stove. There are four precursors that are needed to produce homemade explosive materials that first responders need to be able to identify to stay safe. Fire Investigators are trained to be able to identify these materials to conduct their investigators; however, most first responders do not have this baseline knowledge. This class will discuss the basics of fire chemistry and how its many facets play into explosive materials, various explosive devices used by criminals and terrorists today, the science of blast effects, and safe and appropriate responses to pre-blast and post-blast scenes.
