Fires are perennial threats in every facet of daily human living. A very useful and essential element of everyday life, fire can also easily become a destructive force if it is not controlled properly. It can easily wreck havoc and can cause damage to both life and property.

Whether in the home, office, or just about anywhere else, the threat of fire is always present. Understanding how it starts can help one able to find ways on being able to stop it.

What is the fire triangle?

The most important thing to know about fire is understanding the basic components that contribute to its development. There are basically three components that should be present at the same time in order for fire to be produced. These three components comprise the fire triangle that is the basic explanation used in the science of firefighting to help people understand the nature of fire.

Fuel

Fuel is the combustible matter used to maintain fire in order to create heat or power. A certain type of fuel can determine the extend and the seriousness of a fire. There are highly combustible fuels that can cause a fire to spread rapidly. There are also slow-burning fuels that may take time to light up but once they do, can be very hard to stop. Almost every object all around us can become a potential fuel that can cause a fire. Take out fuel and a fire will stop from spreading.

Fuel is the component of the fire triangle where its removal is the basis for developing the best strategies of trying to put out fires. Fuels can be removed by mechanical and physical means and may also be chemically altered to prevent them from burning at ordinary temperatures to halt a spreading fire.

Heat

Without enough heat, a fire cannot begin, and it cannot likely continue. The simplest and the best way to remove this component of the fire triangle is by dousing fire with water. By doing so, water turns to steam, taking the heat with it. But water may not be effective in stopping other types of fires and that it may actually increase or spread some other types of fires as in the case combustible metal fires as well as in oil fires.

Another effective way to reduce the heat is by separating burning fuels from each other. A good example would be separating burning logs in forests fires and placing them into areas where there is no other fuel. It also allows heat not to be concentrated in a small area that allows fires to continuously grow and spread. Another example is turning off the electricity in an electrical fire which will remove the heat source and help stop a fire in its tracks.

Oxygen

Oxygen is an essential component in the existence of life but can also be a dangerous component of fire. Oxygen promotes rapid combustion and can cause fires to spread rapidly with its presence. Although it may be difficult to remove this component from an existing fire, other ways can be utilized to help neutralize it and remove it as a component of a fire triangle to prevent its spread.

One method is by using aqueous foam, dry chemicals or some inert gas such as CO2 or Halon to help remove oxygen in a fire area. Enclosing an area on fire will also enable it to quickly use up all of the available oxygen until no supply is left and the fire will slowly die down.

The fire triangle can explain how fires behave. The existence of fire is made possible by the interaction of the three components that form the sides of the triangle- fuel, heat and oxygen. The right combination of the three components will determine the extent of the fire.

Removing any one side would effectively prevent fire from forming. With that in mind, fighting fires take on a more scientific approach. With the help of the fire triangle, fire fighters now have a way of developing different strategies and techniques of putting out fires.

They can make use of different approaches of removing a side of the fire triangle in order to suppress fires and stop them from wreaking havoc to life and property. And with the understanding of the fire triangle, you too may have a better idea on how to better stamp out fires whenever you find yourself encountering one.