2.  Long Beach, California, resident Jeff Davis has been
working in the petrochemical industry since 1994. As
a safety officer and educational instructor, Jeff Davis
recently ran industrial safety training programs for
Beacon Energy Services, located near Long Beach.
Although strong and rigid, stainless steel cannot
always withstand the effects of fire. In the
petrochemical industry, stainless steel structural
elements are often used, and protecting such
structures as conscientiously as possible is therefore
crucial. Steel loses strength following exposure to
intense heat. In the case of jet fires and hydrocarbon
fires, this process may be rapid.

3.  A number of passive fire protection measures can
delay the time taken to reduce the strength of steel.
In some emergency cases, such measures could
provide sufficient time to evacuate workers or control
a blaze in a petrochemical plant. Such fire protection
measures must also withstand explosive force to
some degree, in the case that a fire results from the
explosion of flammable material close to stainless
steel containers.
The most common passive fire protection measure is
a professionally applied spray coating, one that fulfills
international professional standards.