13.2 Fire Suppression
Describes the ongoing concern of accidental or deliberate combustion aboard Deep Space 9, the situations that can trigger automatic suppression or require trained crews, the way structural and decorative items can react with exotic chemicals or energy sources, the station's recent history of weapons discharges and explosions, the limited and self-serving distribution of the original Cardassian fire-detection systems and force field emitters, the incomplete state of the Starfleet upgrade by 2373 and the additional Starfleet field devices tied into the emergency ODN net to meet SFRA Standard 613.4d, and the static and deployable firefighting gear, including nitrilimane halofoam, fluoromane gas, and diemathyl gel extinguishers, plus auto-sealing doors and venting of fire areas to space.
The accidental or deliberate combustion of materials aboard Deep Space 9 is an ongoing concern. Today, a wide range of situations exist that could trigger an automatic fire-suppression system or require the deployment of trained crews to extinguish an uncontrolled thermal reaction. While most station materials do not support combustion by themselves, numerous structural and decorative items can react with exotic chemicals or energy sources. The recent history of the station has seen numerous weapons discharges, explosives detonations, and high-energy EM field effects that have been proved lethal, but would have resulted in greater loss of life without the activation of onboard firefighting measures.
Most Cardassian fire-detection systems had been installed in the Terok Nor command center, Habitat Ring, and Lower Core, with less coverage in the Docking Ring, Docking Pylons, and Mid-Core. Few if any sensor packages were installed in the Upper Core where the Promenade is now situated, though EPS power connectors and ODN junctions for additional sensors had been built into the structure. It is clear from even casual observation that the Cardassians had concentrated these emergency systems in their own protected areas, with little regard for the station's Bajoran workforce. Starfleet upgrade work had not yet completed the total emergency detection grid by 2373, but enough coverage was currently in place to allow station security to respond in rapid order.
No station-wide installation of containment force fields had been considered by the Cardassians, though some sensitive areas, like laboratories and high-value consumables storage bays, did receive limited-range field emitters. There is no data record of any of the emitters having been tripped, and current maintenance checks indicate the systems would work properly. Some fifty-eight additional Starfleet fire-suppression field devices have been tied into the emergency ODN net, so that coverage is brought up to the minimum SFRA Standard 613.4d for starbases and research outposts.
All Starfleet and Bajoran static and deployable firefighting gear currently on the station include nozzle/conduit assemblies dispensing nitrilimane halofoam or fluoromane gas, depending on the nature of the combustion, as well as storable diemathyl gel extinguishers. These high-pressure gel atomizers have been particularly effective in quenching EM discharges. Other devices and procedures in place follow typical starship practices of isolating affected sections of habitable areas with auto-sealing doors and venting dangerously involved fire areas to space.