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Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. [1] [a] Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion reaction when the fuel reaches its ignition point.
Fires in Europe occur frequently during the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. [70] Wildfire suppression operations in the United States revolve around a 24-hour fire day that begins at 10:00 a.m. due to the predictable increase in intensity resulting from the daytime warmth. [71]
This can happen in rooms where the fire subsided because of lack of oxygen. The ignition source can be a smouldering object, or the stirring up of embers by the air track. Such an event is known as backdraft. A delayed flashover occurs when the colder gray smoke cloud ignites after congregating outside of its room of origin.
A fire whirl, fire devil or fire tornado is a whirlwind induced by a fire and often (at least partially) composed of flame or ash.These start with a whirl of wind, often made visible by smoke, and may occur when intense rising heat and turbulent wind conditions combine to form whirling eddies of air.
Containment happens when barriers, known as firebreaks, get in the way of a fire’s forward momentum. Sometimes those barriers are natural, like rivers or terrain without burnable fuel.
The fire triangle or combustion triangle is a simple model for understanding the necessary ingredients for most fires. [1] The triangle illustrates the three elements a fire needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing agent (usually oxygen). [2] A fire naturally occurs when the elements are present and combined in the right mixture. [3]
The components of long-term fire retardants are mainly salts – typically agricultural fertilizers – that "alter the way the fire burns, decreases the fire intensity, and slows the advance of ...
As thousands of people fled from fires that tore through Los Angeles County this month, you may have wondered about the wildfire risk in your area.