灭火器用化学品。
火在某些化合物存在的情况下是不能存在的，这一事实早已为人所知。但是，用化学药剂灭火是近代的事了。然而，在制造能有效利用这种化合物的各种器具方面已经取得了这样的进展，今天，全国的消防部门没有一个不拥有化学发动机和灭火器供应就被认为是装备齐全的。从早期的便携式“巴布科克灭火器”到今天优雅的化学发动机，这些器具的改进是显著的。第一批灭火器是粗糙的、不完美的、令人不满意的东西，经常出现故障，运行效率如此之低，以至于人们对它们产生了偏见。但是北方佬的天真已经克服了对他们的一切反对意见。我们的发明者认识到所涉及的原理是正确的，他们坚持不懈，直到他们完善了应用它的方法，现在他们是所有可以期望的。它们在灭火方面的效用在这个时候经常被证明是有争议的。这并不是说它们足以扑灭大火灾，或者它们能够取代更广泛的消防设备;但他们构成了一个正规消防部门的一个最有价值的辅助，这已是一个公认的事实。 The chemical appliances are especially serviceable in putting out fires in their incipiency, thereby preventing extensive losses by water. When the compound can be directed immediately upon a small fire it extinguishes it at once, and there is, consequently, no occasion for deluging the building with water. But when a fire has obtained good headway, the chemicals are serviceable in preventing the spread of the flames rather than in subduing them. Portable fire extinguishers may be of great benefit in private establishments provided they are kept in order and properly cared for. But they need to be used by persons specially trained in their management, whose duty it is made to manipulate them in cases of emergency. It is because of the neglect and unintelligent handling to which fire extinguishers have been subjected in times past that they have been subjected to considerable ridicule. This is unfair and unjust. The fault is not in the extinguishers, but with those who neglect them or handle them carelessly. Like everything else, they must be kept in order and used intelligently. The regular apparatus of a Fire Department would be open to quite as much ridicule were it neglected as completely as extinguishers usually are when kept in private establishments. When placed in a building, if they secure a reduction of the rate of insurance, their mission is usually deemed at an end, and no further attention is paid to them. If in every' place where they are employed it was made the duty of some one to take care of the extinguishers, and to perfect himself in the management of them, there would be far less ground for ridicule. In the hands of trained Firemen they are found to be exceedingly useful in the extinguishment of fires.
除了现在使用的化学轮胎灭火机器外，最近还出现了一种不需要任何器具就能自动灭火的化学化合物，即通过桶直接扔到火上灭火的混合物。其中一些兔子所做的展览非常成功，但它们在实际火灾情况下如何发挥作用还有待证明。这种化合物被称为“Zaptie I~ire灭火混合物”。最近被海军军官彻底测试过。并被他们极力推荐在船上使用，用来扑灭经常在船舱里发生的火灾。当然，如果是在船上服务，在住宅和商业场所更是如此。还有其他具有这种性质的化学制剂。一些以液体的形式，一些以固体的形式，它们在公开展览中无疑显示出奇妙的效果。这些灭火工具最终能否发展成为一种公众有信心的灭火工具，还有待观察。从最初围绕“巴布科克放火器”进行的原始实验中，发展出现在的超级化学发动机，这一壮举，与此相比，也就不足为奇了。
