Rate of fire

“ So in a modern city if all the gas were turned off simultaneously at all the burners but one, the flame would no doubt blaze at that one burner with a fierceness such as no single burner could shew when all are burning at the same time. The analogy may help us to understand the process of reasoning which leads the peasantry to insist on the extinction of all common fires when the need-fire is about to be kindled. ”

“ The very best way not to have fires is not to set them. If you stop to think of it, there are not so very many different things that will start fires. Matches, kerosene, gas, gasoline, hot sparks, burning tobacco, fires in stoves, furnaces, and fire-places, hot ashes, lightning, and fires [Pg 118] which start themselves by "spontaneous combustion," are the common causes of our losses ”

“ Blinded by smoke and flame, made frantic by the red death that was sweeping the forest, confused, terror-stricken, weakened by gas and fumes, the poor beasts had finally crowded together and perished under the onrushing wave of fire. ”

“ The blinding effect of the dense smoke that filled the atmosphere, the suffocating smell of the burning mass of vegetable matter, and the lurid glare of the red flames that came on so rapidly, overpowered alike the horses and their riders: while the roaring of the fire—which sounded like a mighty rushing cataract—and the oppressive heat, seemed to confuse the senses, and destroy the vital powers of the more feeble and ill-mounted of the fugitives. ”

“ Even should the wind fan them into a flame again they could do no harm, for there was nothing for them to feed upon. Along the entire edge of the burned area the fire crew had made sure there was a wide belt of ground in which no spark remained. Thus, though these glowing embers might continue to smoulder for hours, they could do no harm. The quantity of smoke arising was still considerable, but it did not shut off the vision as the dense clouds of smoke had done during the fire. So the onlookers could get a fair idea of the extent of the blaze. ”

“ Then, because they're wet, some sort of a gas develops, and the fire starts with what they call spontaneous combustion."
"They have a fire patrol in some places, don't they?"
"Yes, and they ought to have one wherever there are woods. Out west the government forest service keeps men who do nothing all day long but keep on the lookout for fires. Up on the high peaks they have signal stations, with semaphores and telephone wires, and men with telescopes who look out all day long for the first sign of smoke." ”

“ I have known a fire to blister aspen clumps that were seven or eight hundred feet from the nearest burned trees. The passing flames may have been pushed much closer than this by slow heavy air-swells or by the brief blasts of wild wind rushes.
The habits of forest fires are largely determined by slope-inclination, wind-speed, and the quantity and quality of the fuel. In places the fire slips quietly along with low whispering, then suddenly it goes leaping, whirling, and roaring. A fire may travel less than one mile or farther than one hundred miles in a day. ”

“ If the gas be copious, the flame elongates into a sharp spire, as well as the top. It is in general reckoned dangerous when the tip changes from the bluish-gray to a fine blue colour, accompanied with minute luminous points, which pass rapidly upwards through the flame and top. When the symptoms are manifestly dangerous, a sudden movement of the hands or body is liable to produce ignition by agitation of the fire-damp. ”

“ The idea is to light the backfires right on the edge of your fire line so that they’ll burn in the opposite direction, toward the main fire. Actually, the air currents created by a big blaze tend to draw in the smaller backfires. ”

“ But when several pieces of fuel are close together, the heat losses are greatly reduced—each burning piece supplies heat to others—and the fuel can burn intensely. This is why a single log in a fireplace can seldom be made to burn, but three or four logs together burn well. ”

“ Our fires are larger, more destructive, and more frequent, compelling us to support not only the most effective, but most expensive, fire-departments in the world; and yet, in spite of all this, our annual fire losses are from ten to twenty times more than those of any country in Europe. ”

“ Many people do not understand the speed at which fire can spread, the intensity of its heat, or the toxic power of its smoke. Because a quick, decisive response often means the difference between life and death, it is important to learn about fire, to recognize how deadly a threat it is, and to react to it immediately. The National Fire Protection Association, in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and our Nation's fire services, has selected "Know When to Go! React Fast To Fire!" ”

“ Although most structures are likely to catch fire in a critical situation, usually they do not do so immediately, and the fire buildup is often relatively slow. Thus, the main flame wave will probably have passed by the time the heat in the building becomes intolerable. ”

“ Thus, when we construct a firebreak around a fire, we prevent heat transfer to unburned fuel. To determine the firebreak width, we must consider the amount of heat being produced and the amount of heat that must be transferred to ignite the particular unburned fuel. ”

“ This need of the larger fuels to have more heat than they can produce individually to continue burning can be utilized in firefighting, particularly in mop-up work. Fire intensity can be reduced or active flaming stopped if the individual pieces in fuel concentrations are separated by only a few feet. Similarly, raking away hot coals and burning debris from around a log too large to move or from around the base of a burning snag also often reduces the fire intensity or causes the flames to go out. ”

“ During one of its wilder displays the fire rolled forward, an enormous horizontal whirl of flame, and then, with thunder and roar, the molten flames swept upward into a wall of fire; this tore to pieces, collapsed, and fell forward in fiery disappearing clouds. With amazing quickness the splendid hanging garden on the terraced heights was crushed and blackened. By my promontory went this magnificent zigzag surging front of flame, blowing the heavens full of sparks and smoke and flinging enormous fiery rockets. ”

“ And if thou dost ask why Hell-fire should so far exceed earthly fire in the intensity of its heat, there are several reasons which account for this fact.
In the first place, every one knows that the larger the fire, the greater the heat it throws out. The flame of a wax taper is not very hot, but if the whole taper is burning at once, the flame arising from it is much hotter. When a house is on fire, the heat in the immediate neighbourhood is very great, but if a whole village is in flames, the heat of the conflagration becomes unbearable even at a distance. ”

“ Eighty-eight were traced to piles of leaves left burning, twenty-nine to camp fires, and six to cigar-stubs and burning tobacco from pipes.
Every fire, when it first starts, is nothing but a little blaze which might easily be extinguished; but as it grows and spreads it quickly gets beyond control, unless [Pg 63] there is a force of well-trained men to fight it.
There are three kinds of forest fires,—"top fires," "ground fires," and the fires which burn the whole trees and leave nothing standing but stumps and blackened trunks. ”

“ In this way you have at once a cheerful blaze, and the fire gradually eats into the solid mass, sinking down with increasing fervor; coals drop below, and delicate tongues of flame sport along the beautiful grain of the forestick. There are people who kindle a fire underneath. But these are conceited people, who are wedded to their own way. I suppose an accomplished incendiary always starts a fire in the attic, if he can. ”

“ His first care should be to see that his fire burns clearly and with sufficient intensity, and this he may aid by occasionally dashing in a little water, which, by the decomposition of the gases, will increase the heat under the direct blast, while the surplus, falling on the surrounding coal, will prevent the fire spreading farther than is requisite. ”

“ When they have got enough, they cart the fuel to a spot at some little distance from the village, pile it up, and set it on fire. All the people of the parish come out to see the bonfire. In some villages, when the bells have rung the Angelus, the signal for the observance is given by cries of, "To the fire! to the fire!" Lads, lasses, and children dance round the blaze, and when the flames have died down they vie with each other in leaping over the red embers. ”

“ Avoid flimsy, unpainted wooden structures—they ignite easily and burn hot and fast. Wooden buildings in heavy fuels are also a poor choice because of the length of time a hot fire persists in such fuels. ”

“ When it is raining, the blaze should be laid upon the dryest spot that can be found, a blanket held over it to keep off the water, and it is fed with very small bits of dry wood and shavings until it has gained sufficient strength to burn the larger damp wood. When no dry place can be found, the fire may be started in a kettle or frying-pan, and afterward transferred to the ground. Should there be no other means of starting a fire, it can always be made with a gun or pistol, by placing upon the ground a rag saturated with damp powder, and a little dry powder sprinkled over it. ”

“ To prevent accidents of this kind, before kindling the fire a space should be cleared away sufficient to embrace the limits of the flame, and all combustibles removed therefrom, and while the fire is being made men should be stationed around with blankets ready to put it out if it takes the grass. ”

“ From this forth the fire did not cease to burn, filling the wide fireplace with a bright blaze, with tongues of flame that seemed to die away from time to time, only to burn up more brightly than ever when fresh fuel fed them. The fire grew larger, the heap of ashes rose higher and higher—a thick bed of blackened leaves among which ran millions of sparks. ”

“ Two or three men seize the nozzle of the great hose and rush with it into the burning [Pg 173] building to seek the heart of the fire. Smoke pours from the doors and windows in dense clouds, blinding and choking them until they gasp for breath. Water slops and spatters everywhere, steam rises from the blazing timbers, and the intense heat scorches and stifles them as they work. ”

“ Ground-up grass, compact duff, peat, and decayed wood often chars and glows until consumed without ever bursting into flame. So does tobacco. High fuel temperatures are needed to initiate flaming, but flaming combustion also produces the greatest amount of heat and the highest fire temperatures. ”

“ The smoke rose higher and higher beyond us, and curling, creeping fire began to ascend into waves of flame with alarming rapidity, and in an incredibly short time we were overshadowed with a dark pall of smoke. ”

“ When a calm succeeds a storm, the pressure is unusually low, consequently the foul air imprisoned in the mineral of coal pits escapes more readily into the air, accompanied by a buzzing sound, which miners regard as prognosticating a storm or heavy rain. Accordingly, it is when the barometer is low that explosions of fire-damp are most common. ”

“ As a part of the night’s irony the firemen were blistered by both fire and frost. While cold gales bit their necks and backs, and the wet streets congealed their feet to mere hobbles, the blast from the flames blistered their cheeks.
Everywhere the pavements squirmed with black snakes of hose, limp and empty; for the hydrants were frozen, the cisterns sucked dry. In the face of such fire, little new fires had to be started around the hydrants to thaw them out, but when the water came it turned to ice in the hose as the chilled engines refused to work. ”

“ Assuming that there is no air passing up the chimney other than that which has passed through the fire, the higher the temperature of the fire and the lower that of the escaping gases the better the economy, for the losses by the chimney gases will bear the same proportion to the heat generated by the combustion as the temperature of those gases bears to the temperature of the fire. ”

“ If there is none, again shout the lost signal and continue the calls every little while for quite a time. Another call for help is the ascending smoke of three fires. This, of course, is for daylight. Build your fires some distance apart, twenty-five feet or more, that the smoke from each may be clearly seen alone, not mingled with the rest. Aim to create smoke rather than flame; a slender column of smoke can be seen a long distance, therefore the fire need not be large. ”

“ The minute the engine starts, the connection with the pipes underneath is shut off automatically, and then as soon as the wheels cross the threshold of the building, the fire is lit, and as the swift motion of the street acts as a sort of draught, there is a big blaze going in less than two minutes. ”

“ Suppose that there were two fires in one room, one burning with more force, and therefore having a more ascensive column of air above it, than the other; if the doors and windows be shut, the stronger fire will overpower the weaker, and for its own demand will draw down air from the chimney of the latter, which air in descending brings down smoke into the room. ”

“ For example, more than 80 percent of the body's cooling capacity is utilized when a firefighter is working 6 feet away from flames about 1 foot high. With flames 2 feet high this capacity is exceeded at the same distance. ”

“ The immense mass of vegetation with which the fertile soil loads itself during the summer is suddenly withered, and the whole earth is covered with combustible materials. A single spark of fire falling anywhere upon these plains at such a time, instantly kindles a blaze that spreads on every side, and continues its destructive course as long as it finds fuel, these fires sweeping on with a rapidity which renders it hazardous even to fly before them. ”