Forty saw dust samples from four mature hard wood plants grown in
southwestern part of Nigeria were analyzed for their ash contents, moisture contents, metallic
contents and hence the fire extinguishing strength of the saw dust ash by classical and
instrumental methods of analyses. Mahogany (
Khaya ivorensis
) wood saw dust ash had the
highest mean metallic content (5.989±2.51ppm) followed by Opepe (
Sarcocephalus latifolius
), 4.704±0.21ppm while Poro poro (
Sorghum bicolour) wood ash had the least metallic content (1.611±0.48ppm). Mahogany also had the highest mean moisture content (2.6615±0.64) while
Opepe had the least moisture content (0.9362±0.45). The fire extinguishing strength of
Mahogany was the highest, and had a positive correlation with its metallic content as depicted
by their correlation coefficient (0.850). Poro poro had the least fire extinguishing strength. The
comparison of the extinguishing strength of wood saw dust samples and the commonly used
ABC fire extinguisher showed that ABC fire extinguisher has more extinguishing strength than
the wood saw dust ash. Hence, improvement on the extinguishing strength of the saw dust ash
is necessary.