Gaham attempted to extinguish the fire and fell unconscious due to smoke inhalation. The deadly gas made it impossible for Soviet firefighters to quickly extinguish the fire. Adso summons the monks in a futile attempt to extinguish the fire. Apprentices were not allowed to climb flues to extinguish fires. This allows ground crews time to work to extinguish the fire. The resulting explosion often starts a fire difficult to extinguish. Another way to extinguish a fire is fuel removal. A portion of the building collapsed; firefighters spent days working to fully extinguish the blaze. They extinguish the fire by rapid smothering and cooling. The tank has a halon firefighting system to automatically extinguish fires in the crew compartment. Therefore, water cannot extinguish magnesium fires. The fire took about an hour to extinguish. It took nine months to extinguish these oil fires. Nitrate film fires were difficult to extinguish. The use of water to extinguish the fire was also frustrated.