Carbon Monoxide and Gas Powered Smoke Blowers

Technical BulletinLast updated Wednesday, December 1, 1999
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The problem was Las Vegas Fire and Rescue did not know if their employees were being exposed to unacceptable levels of carbon monoxide (CO) during post fire attack operations (overhaul, fire investigation, evidence retrieval, et cetera). The purpose of this research project was to determine if gasoline powered smoke blowers could reduce carbon monoxide levels inside a structure during post fire attack operations to an acceptable level. The evaluative research method was used. The research questions to be answered were: 1. What is the acceptable level of carbon monoxide in a structure for a firefighter to work in without self contained breathing apparatus? 2. Does a gasoline powered smoke blower introduce a significant amount of carbon monoxide into a structure? 3.Can a gas powered smoke blower reduce the carbon monoxide within a structure to an acceptable level during post fire attack operations? The procedures included a literature review, gathering information from articles, texts, the internet, and data collected from evaluative testing of the gasoline powered smoke blowers typically used by Las Vegas Fire and Rescue. The research revealed a significant level of carbon monoxide is an atmosphere containing 35 ppm or more. In the positive pressure mode, a gasoline powered smoke blower introduces and maintains a significant amount of carbon monoxide into a structure; it was also determined that a gasoline powered smoke blower used in the negative pressure mode can reduce the level of carbon monoxide to an acceptable level. The recommendations were to maintain a regular aggressive offensive interior fire attack using positive pressure ventilation initially.Then, prior to beginning any post fire attack activities where personnel remove their respirators, negative pressure ventilation (NPV) should be initiated and carbon monoxide detectors should be used to monitor and ensure safe CO levels within the structure.

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