Incident reports highlight potential CO_2 dangers

摘要

In December 2012, the US Coast Guard issued a safety alert that highlighted some of the potential issues surrounding the use of fixed CO_2 fire extinguishing systems. The alert focussed on the location of fire suppression system pressure switches aboard vessels. These switches sense the activation of the system and then secure the ventilation systems in the protected space. As highlighted by Gard, securing the ventilation is essential in extinguishing a fire with a CO_2 system because it isolates a fire, minimises the introduction of oxygen to fuel it, and prevents the loss of fire suppression agents from the space.