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Fire is the rapid oxidation of a combustible material releasing heat, light, and various reaction products such as carbon dioxide and water.[1] If hot enough, the gases may become ionized to produce plasma.[2] Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity might vary. Fire in its most common form can result in conflagration, which has the potential to cause physical damage through burning.
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= ]] Fires start when a flammable and/or a combustible material with an adequate supply of oxygen or another oxidizer is subjected to enough heat and is able to sustain a chain reaction. This is commonly called the fire tetrahedron. Fire cannot exist without all of these elements being in place (though as previously stated, another strong oxidizer can replace oxygen).
Once ignited, a chain reaction must take place whereby fires can sustain their own heat by the further release of heat energy in the process of combustion and may propagate, provided there is a continuous supply of an oxidizer and fuel.
Fire can be extinguished by removing any one of the elements of the fire tetrahedron. Fire extinguishing by the application of water acts by removing heat from the fuel faster than combustion generates it. Application of carbon dioxide is intended primarily to starve the fire of oxygen. A forest fire may be fought by starting smaller fires in advance of the main blaze, to deprive it of fuel. Other gaseous fire suppression agents, such as halon or HFC-227, interfere with the chemical reaction itself.
's flame]]
A flame is a mixture of reacting gases and solids emitting visible and infrared light, the frequency spectrum of which depends on the chemical composition of the burning material and intermediate reaction products. In many cases, such as the burning of organic matter, for example wood, or the incomplete combustion of gas, incandescent solid particles called soot produce the familiar red-orange glow of 'fire'. This light has a continuous spectrum. Complete combustion of gas has a dim blue color due to the emission of single-wavelength radiation from various electron transitions in the excited molecules formed in the flame. Usually oxygen is involved, but hydrogen burning in chlorine also produces a flame, producing hydrogen chloride (HCl). Other possible combinations producing flames, amongst many more, are fluorine and hydrogen, and hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide.
The glow of a flame is complex. Black-body radiation is emitted from soot, gas, and fuel particles, though the soot particles are too small to behave like perfect blackbodies. There is also photon emission by de-excited atoms and molecules in the gases. Much of the radiation is emitted in the visible and infrared bands. The color depends on temperature for the black-body radiation, and on chemical makeup for the emission spectra. The dominant color in a flame changes with temperature. The photo of the forest fire is an excellent example of this variation. Near the ground, where most burning is occurring, the fire is white, the hottest color possible for organic material in general, or yellow. Above the yellow region, the color changes to orange, which is cooler, then red, which is cooler still. Above the red region, combustion no longer occurs, and the uncombusted carbon particles are visible as black smoke.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has recently found that gravity plays a role. Modifying the gravity causes different flame types.[3] The common distribution of a flame under normal gravity conditions depends on convection, as soot tends to rise to the top of a general flame, as in a candle in normal gravity conditions, making it yellow. In micro gravity or zero gravity, such as an environment in outer space, convection no longer occurs, and the flame becomes spherical, with a tendency to become more blue and more efficient (although it may go out if not moved steadily, as the CO2 from combustion does not disperse as readily in micro gravity, and tends to smother the flame). There are several possible explanations for this difference, of which the most likely is that the temperature is evenly distributed enough that soot is not formed and complete combustion occurs.[4] Experiments by NASA reveal that diffusion flames in micro gravity allow more soot to be completely oxidized after they are produced than diffusion flames on Earth, because of a series of mechanisms that behave differently in micro gravity when compared to normal gravity conditions.[5] These discoveries have potential applications in applied science and industry, especially concerning fuel efficiency.
In combustion engines, various steps are taken to eliminate a flame. The method depends mainly on whether the fuel is oil, wood, or a high-energy fuel such as jet fuel.
The temperature of flames with carbon particles emitting light can be assessed by their color:[9]
The fossil record of fire first appears with the establishment of a land-based flora in the Middle Ordovician period, ,[10] permitting the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere as never before, as the new hordes of land plants pumped it out as a waste product. When this concentration rose above 13%, it permitted the possibility of wildfire. Wildfire is first recorded in the Late Silurian fossil record, , by fossils of charcoalified plants.[11] Apart from a controversial gap in the Late Devonian, charcoal is present ever since.[11] The level of atmospheric oxygen is closely related to the prevalence of charcoal: clearly oxygen is the key factor in the abundance of wildfire.[12] Fire also became more abundant when grasses radiated and became the dominant component of many ecosystems, around ;[13] this kindling provided tinder which allowed for the more rapid spread of fire.[12] These widespread fires may have initiated a positive feedback process, whereby they produced a warmer, drier climate more conducive to fire.[12]
by Antonio Vivarini.]] The ability to control fire was a major change in the habits of early humans. Making fire to generate heat and light made it possible for people to cook food, increasing the variety and availability of nutrients. The heat produced would also help people stay warm in cold weather, enabling them to live in cooler climates. Fire also kept nocturnal predators at bay. Evidence of cooked food is found from , although fire was probably not used in a controlled fashion until 400,000 years ago.[12] Evidence becomes widespread around 50 to 100 thousand years ago, suggesting regular use from this time; interestingly, resistance to air pollution started to evolve in human populations at a similar point in time.[12] The use of fire became progressively more sophisticated, with it being used to create charcoal and to control wildlife from 'tens of thousands' of years ago.[12]
By the Neolithic Revolution, during the introduction of grain-based agriculture, people all over the world used fire as a tool in landscape management. These fires were typically controlled burns or "cool fires", as opposed to uncontrolled "hot fires" which damage the soil. Hot fires destroy plants and animals, and endanger communities. This is especially a problem in the forests of today where traditional burning is prevented in order to encourage the growth of timber crops. Cool fires are generally conducted in the spring and fall. They clear undergrowth, burning up biomass that could trigger a hot fire should it get too dense. They provide a greater variety of environments, which encourages game and plant diversity. For humans, they make dense, impassable forests traversable.
The first technical application of the fire may have been the extracting and treating of metals. There are numerous modern applications of fire. In its broadest sense, fire is used by nearly every human being on earth in a controlled setting every day. Users of internal combustion vehicles employ fire every time they drive. Thermal power stations provide electricity for a large percentage of humanity.
The use of fire in warfare has a long history. Hunter-gatherer groups around the world have been noted as using grass and forest fires to injure their enemies and destroy their ability to find food, so it can be assumed that fire has been used in warfare for as long as humans have had the knowledge to control it. Fire was the basis of all early thermal weapons. Homer detailed the use of fire by Greek commandos who hid in a wooden horse to burn Troy during the Trojan war. Later the Byzantine fleet used Greek fire to attack ships and men. In the First World War, the first modern flamethrowers were used by infantry, and were successfully mounted on armoured vehicles in the Second World War. In the latter war, incendiary bombs were used by Axis and Allies alike, notably on Rotterdam, London, Hamburg and, notoriously, at Dresden, in the latter two cases firestorms were deliberately caused in which a ring of fire surrounding each city was drawn inward by an updraft caused by a central cluster of fires. The United States Army Air Force also extensively used incendiaries against Japanese targets in the latter months of the war, devastating entire cities constructed primarily of wood and paper houses. In the Second World War, the use of napalm and molotov cocktails was popularized, though the former did not gain public attention until the Vietnam War. More recently many villages were burned during the Rwandan Genocide.
in the People's Republic of China]]
Setting fuel aflame releases usable energy. Wood was a prehistoric fuel, and is still viable today. The use of fossil fuels, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal, in power plants supplies the vast majority of the world's electricity today; the International Energy Agency states that nearly 80% of the world's power comes from these sources.[14] The fire in a power station is used to heat water, creating steam that drives turbines. The turbines then spin an electric generator to produce electricity.
The unburnable solid remains of a combustible material left after a fire is called clinker if its melting point is below the flame temperature, so that it fuses and then solidifies as it cools, and ash if its melting point is above the flame temperature.
]] Fire fighting services are provided in most developed areas to extinguish or contain uncontrolled fires. Trained firefighters use Fire apparatus, water supply resources such as water mains and fire hydrants or they might use A and B class foam depending on what is feeding the fire.
Fire prevention is intended to reduce sources of ignition, and is partially focused on programs to educate people from starting fires.[15] Buildings, especially schools and tall buildings, often conduct fire drills to inform and prepare citizens on how to react to a building fire. Purposely starting destructive fires constitutes arson and is a criminal offense in most jurisdictions.
Model building codes require passive fire protection and active fire protection systems to minimize damage resulting from a fire. The most common form of active fire protection is fire sprinklers. To maximize passive fire protection of buildings, building materials and furnishings in most developed countries are tested for fire-resistance, combustibility and flammability. Upholstery, carpeting and plastics used in vehicles and vessels are also tested.
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From Middle English fier < Old English fȳr < Proto-Germanic *fuir < Proto-Indo-European *perjos, *paewr- (“‘fire’”) This was an inanimate noun, whose animate counterpart was Proto-Indo-European *egni-. Akin to Old Norse fúrr, Danish fyr, Dutch vuur, German Feuer, Ancient Greek πῦρ (pur).
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fire (countable and uncountable; plural fires)
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to fire (third-person singular simple present fires, present participle firing, simple past and past participle fired)
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fire
From Old Norse fjórir, from Proto-Germanic *petwōr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“‘four’”).
fire
From Middle Low German fīren, from French virer (“‘bear, veer’”).
fire (imperative fir, infinitive at fire, present tense firer, past tense firede, past participle har firet)
fire
å fire (present tense firer; past tense fira/firet/firte; past participle fira/firet/firt; present participle firende)
fire n. pl.
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[[File:|thumb|150px|A match on fire]] Fire is a chemical reaction that gives off light and heat. It is one of the most familiar examples of the chemical process of oxidation.[needs proof]
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= Fire is very hot. It should never be touched, for it may burn anything that gets too close. If touched with human skin, the skin may blister which can take some time to heal. If a fire occurs you should cover your mouth with a cold cloth because if you breathe in too much smoke you can faint.
Fire can be very useful if it is treated carefully. It has always been very important for people to be able to make fire, because people need its heat on cold days, or its light in darkness, or its heat for cooking.
If fire is not treated carefully, it can be very dangerous. A fire that got out of control once destroyed 17,400 km²,an area the size of New York City, in the United States[needs proof]. Forests can burn down if fires are not controlled. Every year, large areas of forests are destroyed because of fire, particularly in Europe. This usually happens in summer. Firefighters are people with special training to stop fires, or to keep a fire under control.
Fire needs three things to burn: oxygen, fuel, and heat. Fuels can be wood, tinder, coal, or any other substance that will easily oxidize. Once a fire is burning, it creates its own heat, which allows the fire to keep burning on its own for some time.
A fire can be stopped in three different ways, by removing any of the three things it needs to burn:
Fires are usually combustion reactions that take carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.[needs proof] The products are very commonly water, and carbon dioxide, although there are other examples that avoid this generalization, such as burning magnesium in air, which makes magnesium oxide. Fires can occur in many ways and there are many types of fire which, if not treated correctly, can cause total devastation. There are wood fires, gas fires, metal fires, and more.
Wood fires can usually be put out with water used to absorb the heat, but metal fires are too hot for water to absorb enough heat to put out the fire. If water is used to extinguish ("put out") a metal fire, the water will simply evaporate. For metal fires, sand can be used to cover the fire and choke it off from obtaining oxygen. A fire extinguisher can put out most fires.
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