Fire is the visible effect of the
process of combustion
– a special type of chemical reaction. It occurs between oxygen in the air and some sort of fuel. The products from the chemical reaction are completely different from the starting material.
What type of reaction is fire?
Fire is a
chemical reaction in which energy in the form of heat is produced
. When forest fuels burn, there is a chemical combination of the oxygen in the air with woody material, pitch and other burnable elements found in the forest environment. This process in known as �Combustion.
What causes a fire?
Fire is the result of
applying enough heat to a fuel source
, when you’ve got a whole lot of oxygen around. As the atoms in the fuel heat up, they begin to vibrate until they break free of the bonds holding them together and are released as volatile gases. These gases react with oxygen in the surrounding atmosphere.
What are the 4 types of fire?
- Class A Fires. involve common combustibles such as wood, paper, cloth, rubber, trash and plastics.
- Class B Fires. involve flammable liquids, solvents, oil, gasoline, paints, lacquers and other oil-based products.
- Class C Fires. …
- Class D Fires. …
- Class K Fires.
What is the formula of fire?
As long as there is enough fuel and oxygen, the fire keeps burning. Fuel + oxygen (from the air) = combustion products
(mainly CO
2
+ H
2
O) + heat energy
.
What are 5 causes of fire?
- Cooking. Cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires by far, accounting for 48% of all reported residential fires. …
- Heating. Portable heaters are the second-leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries. …
- Electrical Fires. …
- Smoking. …
- Candles. …
- Fire Safety Should Be a Top Priority.
What are the 3 main causes of fire?
- Cooking equipment. Pots and pans can overheat and cause a fire very easily if the person cooking gets distracted and leaves cooking unattended. …
- Heating. …
- Smoking in bedrooms. …
- Electrical equipment. …
- Candles. …
- Curious children. …
- Faulty wiring. …
- Barbeques.
What is the number 1 cause of house fires?
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the number one cause of house fires is
unattended cooking
. Make sure that you stay in the room while you are cooking with a heat source. If you cannot stay in the room the whole time, ask another adult in the family to watch over your food.
What are Class A and B fires?
There are four classes of fires:
Class A: Ordinary solid combustibles such as paper, wood, cloth and some plastics
. Class B: Flammable liquids such as alcohol, ether, oil, gasoline and grease, which are best extinguished by smothering.
What is the most common class of fire?
Class A fires
are the most common type of fire and the kind that most of us are familiar with. They involve solid combustible materials such as wood, paper, cloth, trash, or plastic.
What are the 4 ways to extinguish a fire?
- The fire tetrahedron identifies the four components needed for burning to take place. …
- All fires can be extinguished by cooling, smothering, starving or by interrupting the combustion process to extinguish the fire.
- Cooling.
What is a flame of fire?
A flame (from Latin flamma) is
the visible, gaseous part of a fire
. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. Very hot flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density to be considered plasma.
What is the life cycle of fire?
The six elements of the life cycle of fire are described by Dawson Powell in The Mechanics of Fire. These elements are
input heat, fuel, oxygen, proportioning, mixing, and ignition continuity
. All of these elements are essential for both the initiation and continuation of the diffusion flame combustion process.
What does fire symbolize?
Fire consumes, warms, and illuminates, but can also bring pain and death; thus, its symbolic meaning varies wildly, depending upon the context of its use. … Many cultures view fire as a
symbol of wisdom and knowledge
.
What are the 10 causes of fire?
- Heating Systems. We often forget about our home heating system, but they do need periodic maintenance checks to ensure they remain safe. …
- Smoking. …
- Electrical Appliances. …
- Candles. …
- Children & Fire. …
- Old, inadequate wiring. …
- Flammable Liquids. …
- Christmas tree decorations.
How do you control fire?
The most common method to control a Class-A fire is
to remove heat by spraying the burning solid fuels with water
. Another control method would be to reduce the oxygen content in the immediate vicinity of the fire (i.e., “smother” the fire), such as by the introduction of an inert gas such as carbon dioxide.
