Fire Facts

Don’t play with fire…learn about it instead! Learn what we use the fire for, how dangerous fire can be, how to put out a fire and much more. You can share these fire facts with your friends or family!

• The three components that fires need to exist: heat, oxygen and fuel. If one of these components is missing, a fire can’t ignite.

• Fire is the result of a chemical reaction, called combustion.

• Flames consist primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen.
  

  Most fires require oxygen. However, it is possible for some combinations of elements to burn or produce flames without the presence of oxygen.

• On Earth, gravity determines how the flame burns. All the hot gases in the flame are much hotter than the surrounding air, so they move upward toward lower pressure.

• The color of a flame depends on the substance that is burning and the temperature of the fire.

• Smoke is made up of evaporated water, carbon dioxide and unburnt particles of the fuel.

• Ash is made up of minerals in the wood, like calcium and potassium, which don’t burn.

• Right after the sun, fire is the oldest form of energy used by man.

• Fire helped early man cook food, provided warmth and kept wild animals away.

• Fire can be extremely dangerous and destructive.

• You can put out a fire in four way: Cool the burning material, Exclude oxygen, Remove the fuel, Break the chemical reaction.

• Lightning strikes the earth over 100,000 times a day. 10 to 20 percent of these lightning strikes can cause fire.

• More than 80 percent of all wildfires are started by humans.

• An average of 1.2 million acres of U.S. woodland burn every year.

• Every year more than 3,800 people die fire related deaths in the U.S.