The fire suppression system (aka automatic fire-suppression' or automated fire system or fire control system or fire fighting system) was a system aboard a starship or starbase that was designed to extinguish any form of a fire hazard.
Such systems used a force field to contain any flames that were detected by the resident computer. This containment allowed the fire to consume all oxygen within it, which starved the fire and caused it to go out. Walkerite 342 was used in fire suppression systems. (TNG-R: "Night Terrors" okudagram)
When Chief Miles O'Brien was informed that he had to realign the power grid aboard the USS Enterprise-D, he stated the expression, "We'll be burning the midnight oil," which was overheard by Lieutenant Commander Data, who stated that "That would be inadvisable – if you attempt to ignite petroleum on this ship at 0000 hours, you will activate the fire suppression system." (TNG: "All Good Things...")
On stardate 42823.2, when the Bringloidi tried to make an alcoholic substance in the cargo bay, the automated fire system responded due to a localized increase in carbon dioxide emissions from a campfire which had been started in the bay. Such technology was unknown to the Bringloidi. (TNG: "Up The Long Ladder")
In 2368, the fire suppression systems failed to activate after the USS Enterprise-D sustained damage when it passed through a soliton wave, causing fires in a biolab. This endangered Alexander Rozhenko, but he, as well as two Corvan gilvos, was rescued by both his father, Worf, and Commander Riker. (TNG: "New Ground")
In 2369, upon seeing that Jaheel's ship was on fire, Odo noted that his fire control systems did not appear to be functional. (DS9: "Babel")
That same year, the system on the Kobliad transport Reyab failed, allowing several fires to break out. (DS9: "The Passenger")
Several months later, when a software lifeform known as "Pup" threatened the station, a plasma surge occurred in the habitat ring, in which none of the fire suppression systems activated. (DS9: "The Forsaken")
In 2372, the fire suppression system on the USS Voyager was damaged on the bridge, forcing the crew to abandon it when a fire broke out. (VOY: "Deadlock")
In 2374, when Miles O'Brien was on an assignment with Starfleet Intelligence to infiltrate the Orion Syndicate, the fire suppression system in Quark's malfunctioned. Each time Quark made a flaming cocktail, the system would activate and put it out. (DS9: "Honor Among Thieves")
In 2375, when Odo entered his quarters and found a flame flickering in midair, he told the computer to activate the fire suppression system before he realized that the flame was actually Laas. (DS9: "Chimera")
Later that year, the fire suppression systems were one of a plethora of systems that went off line when the USS Defiant was attacked by the new Breen weapon, prior to its ultimate destruction. (DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil")
In 2384, this system was used to extinguish a fire in the shuttlebay of the USS Dauntless. The fire started in the starboard warp nacelle of a Type 9 shuttlecraft, and it required the efforts of firefighters working alongside the system to extinguish the fire. This situation was being monitored from an operations console on the bridge. (PRO: "Mindwalk")
A clear view of this operations console from the bridge was provided by Dominique Rossier of Wardenlight Studio. [1]
The video game Star Trek suggested that the fire suppression system on the alternate reality USS Enterprise could be activated manually. Kirk and Spock used their tricorders to activate it when attempting to find the Gorn lieutenant, using the spray of suppressant foam to bring their cloaked adversary into view.