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FPFF exit exam questions and answers — Set 21 — Fire Prevention & Fire Fighting

Set 21 of the Fire Prevention & Fire Fighting (FPFF) exit exam bank — 30 of 656 questions, with the correct option marked and a one-line explanation for every one. Read it end to end, jump to a single set, or search it — then sit the same bank as a timed paper. The real DG Shipping exit exam is 30 marks with 15 to pass.

These are the bank's original groupings. Practising deals the whole bank out again every time you reshuffle, so a practice “Set 3” is a different 30 questions each time — the set numbers below are the source file's, and are only used here so the key stays navigable. Options are listed in their original order with fixed letters; when you practise, those move too.

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Set 21 — 30 FPFF exit exam questions with answers

1. When several casualties are brought out from a fire scene, how should the first-aid team decide whom to treat first?

  • A. By treating casualties in the order they were brought out
  • B. By rank, treating senior officers first
  • C. By treating the casualty who is shouting loudest first
  • D. By triage, giving priority to life-threatening airway, breathing and circulation problems
Answer: D — By triage, giving priority to life-threatening airway, breathing and circulation problems
Triage sorts casualties by the urgency of their condition. Those with airway obstruction, breathing difficulty or severe bleeding and shock are treated first, while noisy casualties who can talk and breathe can usually wait.

2. Under FSS Code chapter 9, smoke detectors must be certified to operate before smoke density exceeds what obscuration per metre?

  • A. 50%
  • B. 25%
  • C. 2%
  • D. 12.5%
Answer: D — 12.5%
FSS Code chapter 9 requires smoke detectors to operate before the smoke density exceeds 12.5% obscuration per metre, but not until it exceeds 2% obscuration per metre, balancing early warning against false alarms.

3. Under FSS Code chapter 9, heat detectors in normal spaces must operate before the temperature exceeds what value (rate of rise less than 1°C per minute)?

  • A. 78°C
  • B. 54°C
  • C. 130°C
  • D. 100°C
Answer: A — 78°C
Heat detectors must operate before the temperature exceeds 78°C but not until it exceeds 54°C when raised at less than 1°C per minute. Higher settings, up to 130°C or 140°C in saunas, are allowed in drying rooms and similar hot spaces.

4. What is the maximum floor area per smoke detector given in FSS Code chapter 9?

  • A. 37 m²
  • B. 100 m²
  • C. 150 m²
  • D. 74 m²
Answer: D — 74 m²
The FSS Code table for detector spacing gives a maximum floor area of 74 m² per smoke detector, maximum 11 m between centres and 5.5 m from bulkheads, compared with 37 m², 9 m and 4.5 m for heat detectors.

5. Heat detectors respond more slowly than smoke detectors. Under FSS Code chapter 9, what is the largest floor area that one heat detector may cover?

  • A. 20 m²
  • B. 37 m²
  • C. 50 m²
  • D. 74 m²
Answer: B — 37 m²
Heat detectors respond more slowly than smoke detectors and so must be more closely spaced: the FSS Code allows a maximum floor area of 37 m² per heat detector, 9 m between centres and 4.5 m from bulkheads.

6. Which type of fire detector responds to ultraviolet or infrared radiation emitted by flames?

  • A. Ionisation smoke detector
  • B. Rate-of-rise heat detector
  • C. Flame detector
  • D. Fixed-temperature heat detector
Answer: C — Flame detector
Flame detectors sense the ultraviolet or infrared radiation from flames and respond very quickly to flaming fires with little smoke, so they are used in places such as engine rooms near purifiers, boilers and main engines.

7. Under FSS Code chapter 9, a section of fire detectors covering a control station, service space or accommodation space shall NOT include which space?

  • A. A machinery space of category A
  • B. A stairway enclosure
  • C. A corridor of the same deck
  • D. A cabin on the same deck
Answer: A — A machinery space of category A
The FSS Code requires that a detector section covering control stations, service spaces or accommodation spaces must not include a machinery space of category A, so that alarms from these very different risk areas are clearly identified.

8. How are fixed fire detection systems required to be tested regularly on board?

  • A. Only by pressing the test button on the control panel
  • B. Only by the manufacturer at five-yearly intervals
  • C. By holding a lit match under each detector
  • D. Using equipment producing hot air, smoke or aerosol particles at the detector
Answer: D — Using equipment producing hot air, smoke or aerosol particles at the detector
SOLAS and the FSS Code require periodic testing of fixed fire detection systems using equipment that produces hot air at the appropriate temperature, or smoke or aerosol particles of suitable density, so that each detector's response is proven.

9. Where must the control panel of a fixed fire detection and fire alarm system be located?

  • A. In the CO2 room
  • B. On the navigation bridge or in the continuously manned central control station
  • C. In the steering gear room
  • D. In the engine-room workshop
Answer: B — On the navigation bridge or in the continuously manned central control station
The FSS Code requires the control panel to be on the navigation bridge or in the continuously manned central control station, so that alarms are seen and acted on immediately and the fire location can be identified.

10. For a CO2 system protecting a machinery space, the quantity of CO2 must be sufficient to give a minimum volume of free gas equal to what percentage of the gross volume of the largest machinery space, excluding the casing?

  • A. 25%
  • B. 30%
  • C. 85%
  • D. 40%
Answer: D — 40%
FSS Code chapter 5 requires CO2 for machinery spaces to give free gas equal to the larger of 40% of the gross volume of the largest space excluding the casing, or 35% of the gross volume including the casing.

11. For calculating the quantity of CO2 required, the volume of free carbon dioxide is taken as how many cubic metres per kilogram?

  • A. 0.25 m³/kg
  • B. 0.56 m³/kg
  • C. 1.56 m³/kg
  • D. 1.0 m³/kg
Answer: B — 0.56 m³/kg
The FSS Code specifies that, for the purpose of calculating the required quantity of CO2, the volume of free carbon dioxide shall be taken as 0.56 m³ per kg.

12. How many separate controls are required for releasing CO2 into a protected space, and in what order must they operate?

  • A. Two: one opens the valve to the space, the other discharges the gas from the containers
  • B. Three: alarm, ventilation stop and release, in any order
  • C. Two, which may be operated in any order
  • D. One single push-button that releases all cylinders
Answer: A — Two: one opens the valve to the space, the other discharges the gas from the containers
The FSS Code requires two separate controls for releasing CO2: one to open the valve of the piping to the protected space and a second to discharge the gas from its containers, positively ensuring they can only be operated in that order.

13. For a CO2 system protecting a space normally entered by personnel, how long must the pre-discharge alarm operate before the gas is released?

  • A. Exactly 2 minutes
  • B. At least 20 seconds
  • C. At least 5 seconds
  • D. No delay is required
Answer: B — At least 20 seconds
The FSS Code requires an automatic audible and visual pre-discharge alarm, activated when the release cabinet door is opened, to operate for long enough to evacuate the space but not less than 20 seconds before the medium is released.

14. SOLAS requires fixed local application fire-fighting systems (such as water mist) in machinery spaces of category A above 500 m³ in ships of what size?

  • A. 500 gross tonnage and above
  • B. 10,000 gross tonnage and above
  • C. 2,000 gross tonnage and above
  • D. All passenger ships only
Answer: C — 2,000 gross tonnage and above
SOLAS II-2/10.5.6 requires passenger ships of 500 GT and above and cargo ships of 2,000 GT and above to fit water-based local application systems over fire hazard areas such as engine fuel parts, purifiers, boiler fronts and incinerators in category A spaces above 500 m³.

15. Which arrangement is required for a galley exhaust duct passing through accommodation spaces?

  • A. Only a mesh screen at the hood
  • B. A CO2 portable extinguisher inside the duct
  • C. No special arrangement if the duct is steel
  • D. A grease trap, a fire damper and a fixed means of extinguishing a fire in the duct
Answer: D — A grease trap, a fire damper and a fixed means of extinguishing a fire in the duct
SOLAS II-2/9.7.5 requires galley exhaust ducts passing through accommodation or spaces containing combustible materials to have a readily removable grease trap, a fire damper at the lower end of the duct, remote stopping of exhaust fans and a fixed means for extinguishing a fire within the duct.

16. In a fixed high-expansion foam system for machinery spaces, what is the maximum expansion ratio permitted by the FSS Code for the traditional system?

  • A. 10,000 to 1
  • B. 100 to 1
  • C. 1,000 to 1
  • D. 12 to 1
Answer: C — 1,000 to 1
The FSS Code defines high-expansion foam systems as producing foam with an expansion ratio not exceeding 1,000 to 1, able to fill the protected space rapidly, whereas deck foam systems on tankers use low-expansion foam not exceeding 12 to 1.

17. Under current SOLAS II-2/4.5.5, oil tankers constructed on or after 1 January 2016 must be fitted with a fixed inert gas system if they are of at least what deadweight?

  • A. 40,000 tonnes
  • B. 8,000 tonnes
  • C. 5,000 tonnes
  • D. 20,000 tonnes
Answer: B — 8,000 tonnes
Amendments to SOLAS II-2/4.5.5 lowered the threshold so that oil tankers and chemical tankers of 8,000 tonnes deadweight and above, constructed on or after 1 January 2016 and carrying low-flashpoint cargoes, must have a fixed inert gas system; previously it was 20,000 dwt.

18. Under the FSS Code, the inert gas system must be capable of delivering inert gas with an oxygen content not exceeding what percentage by volume?

  • A. 8%
  • B. 21%
  • C. 11%
  • D. 5%
Answer: D — 5%
FSS Code chapter 15 requires the inert gas system to supply gas with an oxygen content of not more than 5% by volume and to maintain the cargo tank atmosphere at an oxygen content not exceeding 8% by volume at a positive pressure.

19. In an inerted cargo tank, the oxygen content of the tank atmosphere must be maintained at not more than what percentage by volume?

  • A. 15%
  • B. 8%
  • C. 11%
  • D. 5%
Answer: B — 8%
SOLAS and the FSS Code require the inert gas system to keep the cargo tank atmosphere at an oxygen content not exceeding 8% by volume, and at a positive pressure, so that the atmosphere cannot support combustion and air cannot enter.

20. Approximately what is the flammable range of typical crude oil hydrocarbon gas mixed with air?

  • A. About 15% to 50% by volume
  • B. About 0.1% to 1% by volume
  • C. About 10% to 30% by volume
  • D. About 1% to 10% by volume
Answer: D — About 1% to 10% by volume
ISGOTT gives the flammable range of hydrocarbon gas from typical petroleum cargoes as roughly 1% (lower flammable limit) to 10% (upper flammable limit) by volume in air; outside this range the mixture is too lean or too rich to burn.

21. Under SOLAS II-2/4.5.10, the hydrocarbon gas detection system in a cargo pump-room must alarm at a pre-set level not higher than what?

  • A. 100% of the lower flammable limit
  • B. 1% of the upper flammable limit
  • C. 50% of the lower flammable limit
  • D. 10% of the lower flammable limit
Answer: D — 10% of the lower flammable limit
SOLAS requires cargo pump-rooms of tankers to have continuous monitoring of hydrocarbon gas concentration, giving audible and visual alarms in the pump-room, engine control room, cargo control room and bridge at a pre-set level not higher than 10% of the LFL.

22. What minimum ventilation capacity does SOLAS require for the mechanical exhaust ventilation of a tanker's cargo pump-room?

  • A. 6 air changes per hour
  • B. 45 air changes per hour
  • C. 20 air changes per hour
  • D. 10 air changes per hour
Answer: C — 20 air changes per hour
Cargo pump-rooms must be mechanically ventilated with exhaust outlets discharging to a safe place on deck, with a capacity of at least 20 changes of air per hour based on the gross volume of the space, so that cargo vapour does not accumulate.

23. Which fixed fire-extinguishing systems are acceptable under SOLAS II-2/10.9 for the cargo pump-room of an oil tanker?

  • A. Only portable dry powder extinguishers
  • B. Steam smothering only
  • C. Only the deck foam monitors
  • D. CO2, high-expansion foam or fixed pressure water-spraying
Answer: D — CO2, high-expansion foam or fixed pressure water-spraying
SOLAS requires each cargo pump-room to be protected by a fixed system operated from outside the space: carbon dioxide, high-expansion foam or a fixed pressure water-spraying system, with audible CO2 alarms safe for use in a flammable atmosphere.

24. According to ISGOTT, before hot work in a cargo tank, the hydrocarbon gas concentration in the tank should not exceed what value?

  • A. 1% of the LFL
  • B. 5% by volume
  • C. 10% of the LFL
  • D. 50% of the LFL
Answer: A — 1% of the LFL
ISGOTT requires that, before hot work is permitted in or near cargo spaces, the area be gas-freed and tested so that the hydrocarbon gas concentration does not exceed 1% of the lower flammable limit, with continuous monitoring throughout the work.

25. A fire breaks out at the cargo manifold of a tanker discharging at a terminal. What should be done first?

  • A. Raise the alarm, stop cargo operations and close manifold valves, and inform the terminal
  • B. Open all tank lids to release pressure
  • C. Disconnect the hoses immediately while cargo is flowing
  • D. Continue discharging to empty the tanks quickly
Answer: A — Raise the alarm, stop cargo operations and close manifold valves, and inform the terminal
ISGOTT emergency procedures call for raising the alarm, stopping cargo and bunker operations, closing valves, and informing the terminal so that shore pumping stops and the terminal emergency plan is activated, before attacking the fire with foam or dry powder.

26. What is the purpose of emergency towing-off pennants (fire wires) rigged on a tanker alongside an oil terminal?

  • A. To allow tugs to tow the ship off the berth in an emergency such as fire
  • B. To secure the cargo hoses to the manifold
  • C. To earth the ship to the shore and prevent static
  • D. To hang fenders against the jetty
Answer: A — To allow tugs to tow the ship off the berth in an emergency such as fire
Emergency towing-off pennants are rigged on the offshore bow and quarter, with their eyes near the waterline, so that tugs can quickly connect and pull the ship away from the berth if a fire or other emergency makes this necessary.

27. In the tanker emergency organisation recommended by ISGOTT, which group directs the response and maintains external communications?

  • A. The command team, normally led by the Master on the bridge or cargo control room
  • B. The back-up team at the accommodation
  • C. The terminal's mooring gang
  • D. The engineers' group in the engine room
Answer: A — The command team, normally led by the Master on the bridge or cargo control room
ISGOTT describes an emergency organisation with a command centre in overall control and handling communications, an emergency team that fights the incident, a back-up team supporting it, and an engineers' group responsible for machinery and services.

28. A fire occurs at the outlet of a cargo tank vent (mast riser) during loading. What is the first action?

  • A. Open the tank ullage ports to divert the vapour
  • B. Increase the loading rate to clear the vent
  • C. Stop loading so that vapour flow from the vent ceases
  • D. Shut down the inert gas system immediately
Answer: C — Stop loading so that vapour flow from the vent ceases
A vent fire is fed by cargo vapour displaced during loading. Stopping cargo operations removes the vapour flow; the fire can then be extinguished, for example with dry powder or by closing the vent, while adjacent areas are cooled with water spray.

29. Under FSS Code chapter 14, what is the maximum expansion ratio of the foam produced by a tanker's fixed deck foam system?

  • A. 100 to 1
  • B. 500 to 1
  • C. 12 to 1
  • D. 1,000 to 1
Answer: C — 12 to 1
FSS Code chapter 14 specifies the deck foam system for tankers as a low-expansion system with an expansion ratio not exceeding 12 to 1, which produces a heavy foam that resists wind and can be thrown by monitors and applicators.

30. Under FSS Code chapter 14, the foam solution supply rate must be not less than the greatest of several values. Which is one of them?

  • A. 1 l/min per m² of accommodation deck area
  • B. 0.1 l/min per m² of cargo deck area
  • C. 0.6 l/min per m² of cargo deck area
  • D. 10 l/min per m² of cargo deck area
Answer: C — 0.6 l/min per m² of cargo deck area
The supply rate must be the greatest of 0.6 l/min per m² of cargo deck area, 6 l/min per m² of the horizontal sectional area of the single tank with the largest such area, or 3 l/min per m² of area protected by the largest monitor, but not less than 1,250 l/min.

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