🔍 Key Concepts

• Fire tetrahedron (fuel, heat, oxygen, chemical chain reaction) • Typical ventilation and air supply arrangements in an engine room bilge • How oil behaves in a confined bilge space during a fire

💭 Think About

• Think about which element of the fire tetrahedron is hardest to control in a deep, confined space like a bilge filled with hot machinery and residual oil. • Ask yourself: which factor can you actually reach and change quickly in the bilge, and which one tends to keep being supplied whether you like it or not? • Consider what systems or actions you realistically have available on a ship to affect each of the four elements.

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify which element of the fire tetrahedron is usually controlled by fixed fire-extinguishing systems (like CO₂ or foam). • Consider how easy or hard it is to stop the flow or presence of fuel in a bilge oil fire, compared to limiting oxygen or cooling the area. • Think about what keeps being replenished in an engine room bilge even after you start fighting the fire—verify which condition is most persistent.