Fire Triangle

When a fire runs out of fuel it will stop. Fuel can be removed naturally, as where the fire has consumed all the burnable fuel, or manually, by mechanically or chemically removing the fuel from the fire. Fuel separation is an important factor in wildland fire suppression, and is the basis for most major tactics. Other fuels may also be chemically altered to prevent them from burning at ordinary temperatures, perhaps as part of a fire-prevention measure.

Without sufficient heat, a fire cannot begin, and it cannot continue. Heat can be removed by dousing some types of fire with water; the water turns to steam, taking the heat with it. Note that water will actually increase or spread some other types of fires. Separating burning fuels from each other can also be an effective way to reduce the heat. In forest fires, burning logs are separated and placed into safe areas where there is no other fuel. Scraping embers from a burning structure also removes the heat source. Turning off the electricity in an electrical fire removes the heat source, although other fuels may have caught fire and continue burning until the firefighter addresses them and their fire triangles too.

The fire triangle is a simple model, for understanding fires.

For Oxygen see Fire oXidation page