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PARTITION means an interior wall 1 storey or part of a storey in height that is not load-bearing. (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

PARADOX / an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some truth in it.
*What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw (A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples, Ross Scaife)

PARAPROSDOKIAN / surprise or unexpected ending of a phrase or series.
*He was at his best when the going was good. Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor
*There but for the grace of God -- goes God. Churchill (A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples, Ross Scaife)

PARONOMASIA / use of similar sounding words; often etymological word-play.
*...culled cash, or cold cash, and then it turned into a gold cache. E.L. Doctorow, Billy Bathgate
*Thou art Peter (Greek petros), and upon this rock (Greek petra) I shall build my church. Matthew 16
*The dying Mercutio: Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples, Ross Scaife)

PERSONIFICATION / attribution of personality to an impersonal thing.
*England expects every man to do his duty. Lord Nelson (A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples, Ross Scaife)

PHASE A physical state of matter : gas, liquid, or solid. [Friedman 1989]

PLANNING OPERATIONS Fire departments are expected to plan operations to deliver the needed fire flows promptly and efficiently under circumstances which can be foreseen. [Kimball 1969]

PLASTIC A synthetic solid consisting primarily of a polymer or blend of polymers of high molecular weight. Generally, the plastic will also contain other materials, such as plasticizers (for flexibility), fillers (to modify mechanical properties or reduce costs), coloring agents, additives to impart resistance to fungi or ultraviolet light, fire retardants, and so on. [Friedman 1989]

PLEONASM / use of superfluous or redundant words, often enriching the thought.
*No one, rich or poor, will be excepted.
*Ears pierced while you wait!
*I have seen no stranger sight since I was born. (A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples, Ross Scaife)

PLUME The column of hot gases, flames, and smoke rising above a fire. Also called CONVECTION column, thermal updraft, or thermal column. [NFPA 921 - 1992]

POINT OF ORIGIN The exact physical location where a heat source and a fuel come in contact of each other and a fire begins. [NFPA 921 - 1992]

POLYSYNDETON / the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses.
*I said, "Who killed him?" and he said, "I don't know who killed him but he's dead all right," and it was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the town and trees blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where I had her inside Mango Bay and she was all right only she was full of water. Hemingway, After the Storm (A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples, Ross Scaife)

POWER UNITS Power is the rate at which energy is expended. In SI units, power is expressed in watts One watt is 1 joule per second. The kilowatt (1000 watts) and the megawatt (1 000 000 watts) are used frequently. In English units, horsepower is still used. One horsepower equals 745 watts. Also note that 1 BTU per second is equal to 1.055 kilowatt. (Roughly, 1 kilowatt = 1 BTU per second). [Friedman 1989]

PRAETERITIO (=paraleipsis) / pretended omission for rhetorical effect.
*That part of our history detailing the military achievements which gave us our several possessions ... is a theme too familiar to my listeners for me to dilate on, and I shall therefore pass it by. Thucydides, "Funeral Oration"
*Let us make no judgment on the events of Chappaquiddick, since the facts are not yet all in. A political opponent of Senator Edward Kennedy (A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples, Ross Scaife)

PRE-INCIDENT PLANNING Pre-incident planning (for industrial emergencies) can provide valuable information about a structure that can improve the ability of the emergency services personnel to respond effectively to a fire in that structure. Pre-incident planning addresses vital fire protection concerns, such as structure layout, including access systems; contents; construction details; and types and locations of built-in fire protection systems. It includes all data that can have an impact on decisions or actions taken during an emergency. Pre-incident planning is a joint venture between the emergency services and the property management team. [NFPA Handbook 1991]

PRESSURE The pressure is employed to move the water through the hose from the supply source (hydrant or suction location) to the nozzle and also to provide the correct pressure for the type of stream desired. [Kimball 1969]

PRESSURE VESSEL means a storage tank that is designed to operate at pressures greater than 100 kPa (gauge). (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

PREVENTION (fire prevention : NFPA's definition) The term fire prevention is used here, as it is generally used, to include both education and equipment meant to reduce the occurrence of fire and to mitigate the effects of that fire prior to the arrival of the mobile suppression force. [NFPA Handbook 1991]

PROCESS A system of interacting events producing changes of state in people and things for the production or achievement of some output. (Benner 1997)

PROCESS PLANT means an industrial occupancy where materials, including flammable liquids, combustible liquids or Class 2 gases, are produced or used in a process. (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER means a member or licensee of the Association of Professional Engineers of the Province of Ontario under the Professional Engineers Act. (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

PROLEPSIS / the anticipation, in adjectives or nouns, of the result of the action of a verb; also, the positioning of a relative clause before its antecedent.
*Consider the lilies of the field how they grow. (A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples, Ross Scaife)

PUBLIC CORRIDOR means a corridor that provides access to exit from more than 1 suite. (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

PUMPING ENGINES The two sizes currently most popular for use other than in rural districts are the 1000 gpm and 1250 gpm ratings. Unless additional hose or larger diameter hose is provided, the output per pumper may be seriously restricted except for those pumpers located at hydrants very close to a fire. All pumping apparatus should be arranged so that at least two 2,5 inch lines can be laid SIMULTANEOUSLY as occasion demands. Standard streams should be employed and shut off when not needed. [Kimball 1969]

PUMP OPERATOR The pump operator not only cares for the apparatus and drives it to fires but is responsible for providing the correct volume of water and pressure for the various sizes of hose and nozzles which are to be served by his apparatus. Quite commonly off-shift apparatus operators are expected to respond and serve as firefighters. A minimum of three men responding per pumper is needed to apply standard 2,5 inch pumper streams (250 US gpm). [Kimball 1969]

PUMPER COMPANIES Where special truck units are not provided this necessary work [truck duties] will have to be performed by members of pumper companies which have a primary responsibility for applying water on fires. [Kimball 1969]

PYROLYSIS The transformation of a compound into one or more substances by heat alone. Pyrolysis often precedes combustion. [NFPA 921 -1992]

PYROLYSIS The flame has been referred to as gaseous. When a solid such as a match or a candle burns, a portion of the heat of the gaseous flame is transferred to the solid, causing the solid to vaporize. This vaporization can occur with or without chemical decomposition of the molecules. If chemical decomposition occurs, it is called pyrolysis. [Friedman 1989]

PYROLYSIS Organic solids (carbon compounds) must gasify before they can burn. This general principle, however, is not true of carbon itself, which burns by a surface reaction with oxygen (although the carbon monoxide that forms in this reaction might burn with oxygen in the gas phase). With the exception of carbon, the burning process of ordinary solids is preceded by a gasification process [Gayet 1973 refers to distillation ], generally induced by heat and requiring the breaking of chemical bonds. The subsequent fuel-oxygen combustion reaction occurs in the gas phase. The term pyrolysis is used to describe heat- induced chemical decomposition resulting in gasification. Pyrolysis is usually endothermic; that is, a given quantity of heat must be supplied from somewhere for the reaction to occur. This quantity of heat is the heat of gasification of a material, which is expressed in kilojoules per gram. It is an important measure of the flammability of a solid, once ignited. [Friedman 1989]

PYROLYSE (to) To decompose into other molecules when heated. The pyrolysis products often include gases. (Pyrolysis is the process of pyrolysing.) [Friedman 1989]

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 - R -

RACK means any combination of vertical, horizontal or diagonal members that support stored materials on solid or open shelves, including both fixed and portable units. (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

RADIANT HEAT Heat energy carried by electromagnetic waves longer than light waves and shorter than radio waves. Radiant heat (electromagnetic radiation) increases the sensible temperature of any substance capable of absorbing the radiation, especially solid ans opaque objects. [NFPA 921 - 1992]

RADIATION Heat transfer by way of electromagnetic energy. [NFPA 921 - 1992]

RADIATION (from flames) The radiation emitted from flames is important for at least three reasons. **First, the energy feedback from the flame to the burning material is often primarily by radiation, rather than convection (flow of hot gases) or conduction (as through a wall). Accordingly, the flame radiation strongly influences the rate of burning. **Second, the spread of a fire to nearby combustibles is often by radiative transfer For example, a radiative flux of 35 kilowatts per square meter impinging on vertical particle board (wood) will cause ignition in about 50 seconds. The more intense the radiation, the more rapid the fire spread. **Third, the radiation from a sizable fire can be so intense that firefighters might not be able to approach the fire without protection. The threshold of pain for incident radiation on human skin is about 5 kilowatts per square meter for 10 seconds. If there is cooler smoke or fog droplets intervening between the flame and the target, this interference will scatter the radiation and reduce the intensity on the target. [Friedman 1989]

RADIATION (from the flames, infrared) Detailed studies have shown that the energy transfer !from a flame to a liquid surface is primarily by infrared radiation from the flame, at least for hydrocarbon pool fires larger than about 20 centimeters (8 inches in diameter) ... the condition depends on how sooty the flame is. The radiation of optically thick flames of xylene, n-Butane, n-Hexane, liquefied natural gas, and methanol, imposes a heat flux of about 30 kilowatts per square meter on the liquid surface, regardless of the chemical nature of the combustible. [Friedman 1989]

RADIATION (sources of) The radiation flux from the existing fire is very important in determining how much a given material in a compartment can contribute to a fire that is already consuming other materials in that compartment. There are three radiation sources : (1) the flames themselves, (2) the hot smoke, and (3) the hot ceiling and upper walls. A diffusion flame will radiate more than a nonsooty premixed flame, causing the diffusion flame to burn at a lower temperature because some of the combustion heat is lost. [Friedman 1989]

RAPID TRANSIT STATION means a building or part thereof used for the purpose of loading and unloading passengers of a rapid transit system but does not include open-air shelters at street level. (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

RE-ENGINEERING SUBJECT FIELD(S) Corporate Structure / Public Administration / Productivity and Profitability re-engineering*/ business process / engineering*/ business process redesign* / business re-engineering* / reengineering*/ work re-engineering*g / work systems redesign* / process innovation* / new industrial engineering* / rearchitecting* DEF*The radical design of business processes to achieve major gains in cost, service, or time.* CONT*Business re-engineering ... means defragmenting hundreds, even thousands of tasks and processes handled by a multitude of specialists; tasks and processes whose basic design still reflects a precomputer era when information was difficult to obtain, process and share. It means starting over ... re-designing them from scratch.* OBS*... re-engineering is a process in which companies and their critical processes and tasks are taken apart and put back together again.* OBS*The preferred Canadian spelling is the hyphenated form "re-engineering."* OBS*rearchitecting: Term proposed by Don Tapscott and Art Caston since they feel that the term "re-engineering" could be misleading when applied to creating a new type of organization, since "re-engineering" may imply that a product has a higher degree of structure and rigidity than is desirable. (Source Termium, 1994)

REFINERY means any process plant in which flammable or combustible liquids are produced from crude petroleum, including areas on the same site where the resulting products are blended, packaged or stored on a commercial scale. (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

RESIDENTIAL OCCUPANCY (Group 'C') means the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof by persons for whom sleeping accommodation is provided but who are not harboured or detained to receive medical care or treatment or are not involuntarily detained. (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

RETROFIT means the minimum performance requirements for life safety for existing buildings. (Ontario Fire Code 1996)

 RICH MIXTURE A fuel-air mixture containing insufficient oxygen to fully oxidize all fuel molecules present to carbon dioxide and water vapor. [Friedman 1989]

RISK (tolerable) A certain level of fire loss must be accepted as tolerable because of limited resources of a community. Conditions that endanger the safety of citizens and fire fighters beyond the acceptable risk must be identified as targets for mitigation. [NFPA Handbook 1991]


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