159 Fun Facts About Fire

Chemically speaking, fire is the rapid what of a fuel?

Combustion is exothermic, releasing heat and light; the flame appears once the fuel reaches its ignition temperature.

What are the three elements of the fire triangle?

The fire tetrahedron adds a fourth: the chemical chain reaction that keeps it going.

What shape does a flame take in the microgravity of space?

Without convection it also burns bluer and more efficiently, and NASA found more soot gets fully burned.

When a hydrocarbon flame gets enough air, what colour does it turn?

The yellow of a candle comes from glowing soot; with full combustion no soot or carbon monoxide forms.

Which French chemist proposed in 1777 that combustion involves a component of air he named oxygène?

His theory replaced phlogiston, which had dominated chemistry for nearly two centuries.

Charred bones deep in Wonderwerk Cave, evidence of human use of fire, date back how far?

The cave is in South Africa; the oldest clear evidence of deliberately making fire is around 400,000 years old, in England.

At a 400,000-year-old site in England, early humans made fire by striking flint against which mineral?

Fire-cracked handaxes and burnt soil were found alongside the pyrite fragments.

In Greek myth, how did Zeus punish Prometheus for giving fire to humans?

The liver grew back each night; ancient Greeks thought it was the seat of the emotions.

The Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome were priestesses tending the sacred flame of which goddess?

They were chosen before puberty for a college of six and governed by the pontifex maximus.

Which religion holds fire so sacred that its places of worship are known as fire temples?

Fire, or atar, is a symbol of Ahura Mazda; the first fire temple was said to be built at Kashmar.

The Great Fire of Rome broke out in July of which year, during Nero's reign?

It burned six days, reignited for three more, and Nero blamed the Christians, according to Tacitus.

The Great Fire of London began in 1666 in a bakery on which street?

Thomas Farriner's bakery caught fire shortly after midnight on Sunday 2 September.

How many deaths from the Great Fire of London are traditionally recorded?

Historians suspect the true toll was higher; hiring a cart to flee cost as much as £40 that Monday.

How tall is the Monument to the Great Fire, designed by Wren and Hooke near where the blaze began?

Built between 1671 and 1676; an inscription added in 1681 blamed 'Popish frenzy'.

Roughly how many people did the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 kill?

It destroyed 17,000 structures and left 100,000 homeless; the O'Leary cow story is unproven, and one account blames 'Peg-Leg' Sullivan's lantern.

How many firefighters did the Chicago Fire Department have to protect the whole city in 1871?

They had just 17 horse-drawn steam pumpers.

The Peshtigo Fire, history's deadliest wildfire, struck which state on the same day as the Chicago fire?

Between 1,500 and 2,500 died, at least five times Chicago's toll, but the telegraph lines burned first so few noticed.

The 1657 Great Fire of Meireki destroyed 60 to 70 percent of which city?

Legend blames a priest cremating a cursed kimono; over 100,000 people died in the fire and the blizzard that followed.

A gigantic fire whirl killed about 38,000 people in Tokyo in the aftermath of which 1923 disaster?

Fire whirls also helped spread the Great Chicago Fire.

A coal-seam fire has burned beneath which anthracite-country town since at least May 1962?

It could burn for 250 more years; the population fell from 1,500 to five by 2017.

What share of wildfires in the United States are started by human activity?

Natural causes include lightning, volcanoes, sparks from rockfalls and spontaneous combustion.

How many people died in Australia's Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009?

More than 2,000 homes were lost in Victoria.

Which English chemist invented the first commercially successful friction match around 1826?

He worked in Stockton-on-Tees; Charles Sauria later added white phosphorus, which caused 'phossy jaw' in match workers.

The key innovation of the safety match was putting which substance on a separate striking surface?

That kept the dangerous phosphorus off the match head; Gustaf Pasch patented the idea.

Zippo lighters have been made since 1932 in Bradford, in which state?

George Blaisdell chose the name because he liked the sound of the word 'zipper'.

At which German university, newly fitted with coal-gas lines, was the Bunsen burner designed in the 1850s?

Robert Bunsen himself burned coal gas; today they run on methane or propane.

The first fire extinguisher on record was patented in England in 1723 by which chemist?

Captain Manby's pressurised 'Extincteur' of 1816 held three gallons of pearl-ash solution under compressed air.

Frederick Graff, who patented the first cast-iron fire hydrants in 1801, ran which city's water works?

Earlier hydrant patents were lost when the US Patent Office itself burned down in 1836.

Which Alexandrian inventor built the first fire pump around the 2nd century BC?

The first self-propelled steam pumper fire engine was built in New York in 1841.

The first automatic electric fire alarm was patented in 1890 by an associate of which inventor?

Francis Robbins Upton held the patent; the first cheap home smoke detector came in 1965.

Ionisation smoke detectors typically use which radioactive isotope?

Swiss physicist Walter Jaeger stumbled on the principle in the 1930s when his cigarette smoke upset a poison-gas sensor.

The Olympic torch relay was introduced at which Games?

Carl Diem devised it; a symbolic flame had first burned atop Amsterdam's Marathon Tower in 1928.

The modern Olympic flame is lit in Olympia before the ruins of a sanctuary to which goddess?

In antiquity extra fires were lit at the temples of Zeus and Hera every four years during the Games.

Guy Fawkes Night bonfires on 5 November commemorate the foiling of which 1605 conspiracy?

Fawkes was caught guarding explosives under the House of Lords; Londoners lit bonfires to celebrate the king's survival.

Burning Man's wooden effigy is torched in which Nevada location?

The temporary Black Rock City has risen there since 1990, about 100 miles north of Reno.

Which Byzantine naval weapon could burn on water and had a recipe so secret it has been lost?

Sailors sprayed it from tubes or threw it in grenades from the 7th to the 14th centuries.

Napalm was developed in 1942 by a team under Louis Fieser at which university?

Its name blends naphthenic and palmitic acids, the salts used to thicken the gel.

The earliest known reference to firewalking comes from which culture, around 1200 BC?

Walkers survive thanks to the low thermal conductivity of coals and ash, not mind over matter.

Roman candles of antiquity were true dipped candles made from tallow and what?

Beeswax was expensive and reserved for the elite and churches; paraffin came in the modern era.

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in what kind of chemical process?

It releases heat, light and reaction products.

Flames from hydrocarbon fuels consist mainly of what?

If hot enough, the gases ionise into plasma.

Fire is one of the four classical elements alongside which three?

The classical elements loosely match the states of matter.

Heat, fuel, oxygen and a chain reaction together make which model?

Removing any element extinguishes the fire.

Which fire-retardant chemical, largely banned by 2023, works by slowing the chain reaction?

It retards the reaction until combustion is too slow to sustain.

When fire strips protective vegetation, what does heavy rainfall then cause?

Fire also releases nitrogen, reducing long-term soil fertility.

What is combustion, chemically speaking?

It occurs between a fuel and an oxidant.

What must solid materials like wood do first before they burn?

The heat from burning those gases makes more of them.

What toxic gas is produced when there is not enough oxygen for complete combustion?

Some carbon may also remain as soot or ash.

What is the exact amount of air needed for complete combustion called?

Complete combustion is almost impossible to achieve fully.

At what point are flames considered a plasma?

A flame is the visible gaseous part of a fire.

Which part of a candle flame produces soot?

The area near the wick has unburned wax.

What is a wildfire also called in Australia?

Some forest ecosystems actually depend on wildfire.

What is a low-intensity wildfire burning leaf litter and grass on the forest floor called?

Crown fires burn hotter, in the tree canopy.

What is a deliberately set, controlled wildfire for land management called?

They can turn into wildfires if they escape containment.

By how much has human activity increased the land area burned by wildfires versus natural levels?

Climate change has intensified the fuel-drought cycles.

What is the primary cause of death for victims of indoor fires?

Carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide are key killers.

Besides the usual colourless killer gas, which poison do nitrogen-rich materials release in smoke?

Ammonia and nitrogen oxides may also form.

What is smoke, physically?

It forms during combustion or pyrolysis.

What waxy substance were the earliest fine candles made of?

Tallow was cheaper but less pleasant.

What process draws melted wax up to a candle's flame?

The flame melts the wax, which vaporises and burns.

Which two main kinds of match exist?

Safety matches need a specially prepared striking surface.

From which French word for a candle wick does 'match' derive?

Early matches drew on candle-lighting technology.

Which chemist made the first commercially successful friction match around 1826?

He worked in Stockton-on-Tees, England.

Which toxic ingredient in early matches caused the bone disease 'phossy jaw'?

There was enough in one pack to kill a person.

Where has the oldest firm evidence of human use of fire, 1.79 million years old, been found?

Charred bones lay deep beyond the reach of natural wildfires.

Roughly how old is the oldest likely evidence of cooking, found in the Golan Heights?

Heated fish teeth were the clue.

What term describes substances that ignite spontaneously at ambient temperature?

Autoignition temperature was formerly called the kindling point.

What does a substance's autoignition point describe?

It supplies the activation energy for combustion.

What Greek-derived word means thermal decomposition of matter without oxygen?

It leaves char, a carbon-rich residue.

What is extreme thermal decomposition that leaves mostly carbon called?

It is one step in charring wood.

What is a backdraft?

Opening a door to a hot, oxygen-starved room can trigger it.

What is a flashover?

A small flame can reach flashover in 3-5 minutes.

At roughly what temperature does flashover normally occur for ordinary combustibles?

It occurs between the growth and fully developed stages of a fire.

In which country were fireworks originally invented?

China is still the largest maker and exporter.

Under which Chinese ruling house did the earliest fireworks appear?

Earlier Han people threw bamboo into fires for a bang.

What four primary effects do fireworks produce?

They are classed as 'ground' or 'aerial'.

What defines a firestorm?

Winds blow inward from every direction toward the centre.

Which WWII events created firestorms in cities through targeted explosives?

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima also caused one.

What gear do firefighters wear to avoid inhaling toxic fumes?

Firefighting is dangerous due to toxic combustion environments.

In the US system, ordinary solids like wood and paper make which kind of fire?

Class B is flammable liquids; Class D is metals.

In the US system, cooking oils and fats make which kind of fire?

Europe and Australia call it Class F.

Which category covers fires of burning combustible metals?

These need special extinguishing agents.

What early evidence in Wonderwerk Cave proves early humans made fires there?

They lay deep beyond the reach of wildfires.

What four benefits did control of fire give early humans?

These advances enabled human dispersal and dietary change.

In which London street did the Great Fire of 1666 begin?

It started in a bakery shortly after midnight on 2 September.

Whose hesitation delayed the firebreaks that might have checked the Great Fire of London?

He was summoned to permit demolitions but wavered.

Which great church was destroyed by the Great Fire of London?

The fire even leapt the Fleet to threaten Whitehall.

What did the Tower of London garrison use to make effective firebreaks against the Great Fire?

That, plus the wind dropping, finally halted the blaze.

Roughly how many people did the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 kill?

It also left over 100,000 residents homeless.

Which legendary culprit is popularly blamed for starting the Great Chicago Fire?

The tale says the cow kicked over a lantern.

How many structures did the Great Chicago Fire destroy?

It burned roughly 3.3 square miles.

What are the two main types of fire extinguisher?

Stored-pressure units are the most common.

In a stored-pressure fire extinguisher, where is the expellant gas kept?

Cartridge units keep the gas in a separate cartridge.

Which radioactive isotope do ionisation smoke detectors typically use?

The first ionisation detectors went on US sale in 1951.

What are the two ways a smoke detector can sense smoke?

Some detectors use both methods.

In which year were the first photoelectric smoke detectors patented?

Donald Steele and Robert Emmark invented them.

Which state used Greek fire as a naval weapon from the 7th to 14th centuries?

Its recipe was a state secret now lost.

What deadly property made Greek fire so effective at sea?

Modern scholars think it was petroleum-based, like napalm.

Which Titan stole fire from the gods to give to humanity?

He also created humans from clay in some versions.

How did Zeus punish the Titan for giving fire to humans?

The liver grew back each night; Heracles later freed him.

Which hero eventually freed the chained Titan from his torment?

The ancient Greeks thought the liver was the seat of emotions.

At which 1936 Games was the Olympic torch relay introduced?

Carl Diem devised it; the first torch was lit at Olympia.

Where is the modern Olympic flame lit before each Games?

It burns until the closing ceremony.

At which 1928 Games did a symbolic Olympic flame first appear?

It sat atop a 'Marathon Tower' to mark the venue.

Who led the team that developed napalm in 1942?

It was made in a secret Harvard laboratory.

At which university was napalm secretly developed?

It was made for the US Chemical Warfare Service.

At what temperature range does napalm burn?

Its name blends naphthenic and palmitic acids.

What is a whirlwind of flame and ash spun up by a blaze called?

Intense rising heat and turbulent winds form the vortex.

Which 1871 wildfire is the deadliest in recorded history?

It killed an estimated 1,500 to 2,500 people the same day as the Chicago fire.

In which US state did the deadliest recorded wildfire of 1871 strike?

It also reached parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

What informal American name does a fire hydrant go by?

Above-ground pillar hydrants are a 19th-century invention.

Who patented the first cast-iron fire hydrants in 1801?

He was chief engineer of the Philadelphia Water Works.

What caused California's deadly 2018 Camp Fire?

Katabatic winds drove it through Paradise.

How many people did the 2018 Camp Fire kill, California's deadliest wildfire?

It destroyed over 18,000 structures and mostly wiped out Paradise.

Which Northern California town was mostly destroyed by the 2018 Camp Fire?

Concow and Magalia were also devastated.

In which year did the Great Fire of Rome break out during Nero's reign?

It started around the Circus Maximus.

Near which Roman landmark did the Great Fire of Rome start?

The fire began in merchant shops around the chariot stadium.

Whom did Nero blame for the Great Fire of Rome, per Tacitus?

It launched the empire's first persecution of Christians.

Roughly how much of Rome did the Great Fire of AD 64 destroy?

Ten of the city's fourteen districts burned.

How many workers died in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire?

Most were young Italian and Jewish immigrant women.

Why could many Triangle Shirtwaist workers not escape the fire?

Doors were locked to stop breaks and theft.

Which labour organisation grew after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire drove safety laws?

The fire helped drive labour reform in New York.

Who coined the name 'Molotov cocktail' in 1939?

It mocked Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov.

The 'Molotov cocktail' was named a mocking drink to accompany which Soviet weapon?

Finns dubbed the Soviet incendiary bomb the 'bread basket'.

What is a Molotov cocktail, physically?

It is lit and thrown, shattering on impact.

Who wrote the 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451?

In it, 'firemen' burn outlawed books.

In Fahrenheit 451, what job does protagonist Guy Montag hold?

He becomes disillusioned and preserves books instead.

What real-world events inspired the author of Fahrenheit 451?

He wrote it during the McCarthy-era Red Scare.

What is a nonflammable gap in vegetation that halts a wildfire called?

Rivers and canyons can form natural ones.

What is the main goal when building a wildfire barrier strip?

Many firebreaks double as roads or trails.

What term describes seeds, like lodgepole pine's, that need fire's heat to open?

The giant sequoia depends on fire to reproduce.

When are controlled burns usually carried out?

They reduce fuel buildup to prevent hotter wildfires.

Roughly how many people have Australian bushfires killed since 1851?

They have also killed billions of animals.

How many people did Victoria's Black Saturday bushfires kill in 2009?

They also destroyed about 2,000 homes.

Which Australian trees have evolved to thrive on bushfire?

Eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions on Earth.

What is the usual working pressure of a fire hose?

Its bursting pressure exceeds 110 bar.

Why is a fire hose hung up to dry after use?

Hoses split into suction and delivery types.

Into which broad category of emergency worker does a firefighter fall?

The fire service is one of the three main emergency services.

The fire service is one of how many main emergency services?

Firefighters also handle hazmat, road crashes and rescues.

Which plant nutrient escapes to the air when vegetation burns, not staying in the ash?

Nitrogen-fixing clover, peas and beans can restore it.

Which leguminous crops can help restore soil fertility lost to fire?

They are nitrogen-fixing plants.

What flameless burning can start residential fires on upholstered furniture?

Coal, wood, cotton and foams can all smoulder.

What is burning driven by internal self-heating and thermal runaway called?

It ends in ignition without an external flame.

The combustion of hydrogen and oxygen produces what, and fuels rockets?

It releases 242 kJ per mole of heat.

Where were the earliest known organised firefighters?

Nero established a 7,000-strong Corps of Vigiles.

What was the name of Nero's fire-fighting corps in ancient Rome?

Its 7,000 members also served as police.

What did the ancient Roman fire corps carry to fight blazes?

Bucket brigades passed water hand to hand.

The candela, a unit of luminous intensity, takes its name from what?

Wax candles were recorded in the 3rd century.

Which Christian festival is named after candles?

Pope Sergius I instituted the candle procession.

Why did chemists rush to develop napalm and man-made substitutes in WWII?

Malaya, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand supplied natural rubber.

Which spotted dog breed ran alongside horse-drawn fire carriages and became a firehouse mascot?

Originally a hunting dog, the breed traces its origins to Croatia's Dalmatia region.

Smokey Bear's slogan was changed in 2001 to say only you can prevent what?

The 1947 'forest fires' wording had lasted over 50 years; the update reflected blazes in grasslands and other non-forest areas.

The 2019 Notre-Dame fire destroyed the cathedral's wooden spire, known in French as what?

Much of the roof was 13th-century oak sheathed in lead, and the stone vaults largely contained the collapsing timbers.

London's Grenfell Tower fire of 2017 began when which household appliance caught fire?

It started in flat 16 on the fourth floor shortly after midnight and burned for 60 hours, killing 72 people.

How many people died in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in Boston in 1942?

Locked exits and an air-conditioning system filled with flammable methyl chloride, a wartime Freon substitute, made it the deadliest nightclub fire ever.

The 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago broke out during a matinee of which musical?

A broken arc lamp lit the muslin curtains in a theatre that had opened just a month earlier billed as 'absolutely fireproof'.

Roughly what share of Yellowstone National Park burned in the 1988 fires?

The park was closed to all non-emergency personnel for the first time in its history on 8 September 1988.

Which company capped the most Kuwaiti oil-well fires in 1991, despite arriving fourth?

It extinguished 180 of the roughly 600 wells; about 90 percent of the fires were put out with nothing but sea water.

The real bear cub that became Smokey was rescued in 1950 after a wildfire in which state?

The five-pound cub survived the Capitan Gap fire and was flown to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.