ire: man’s oldest foe. Insatiable. Remorseless. Unquenchable—except with firefighting apparatus, whether high-tech or as simple as a bucket of water.

Fire protection 101: snuff a flame by depriving it of heat, fuel, or oxygen. For advanced studies, this month’s article “Making It Rain” by Rachael Kvapil consults with engineers who know the best way to fight a fire is to prevent it from starting in the first place. In the Hierarchy of Hazard Controls, engineers first seek to eliminate potential fuel sources, or substitute less flammable materials. The next tool is designing the environment to minimize fire risk, such as physically separating heat sources from fuels. Administrative controls, such as safety rules and operational procedures, are next on the hierarchy, and the last resort is the most visible: personal protective equipment, including wall-mounted extinguishers. Astute scholars will notice that several steps in the hierarchy precede systems such as sprinklers, alarms, barriers, and detectors.

Fun fact about smoke detectors: the ionization type contains two of the most exotic chemical elements in the average home. A tiny amount of americium, about the size of a snowflake’s arm, expels ionized particles as it decays into neptunium. The total world supply of americium could fit in a suitcase; the isotope sells for about $43,000 per ounce, but only a few pennies’ worth is in a smoke detector. Thus, engineers harness one of the newest elements known to humanity in the battle against the oldest foe.

Consider this edition of Alaska Trends to be a crash course in the most basic lessons in fire protection engineering.