Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition.
The flame is the visible portion of the fire. If hot enough, the gases may become ionized to produce plasma. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity will be different.
Fire in its most common form can result in conflagration, which has the potential to cause physical damage through burning. Fire is an important process that affects ecological systems across the globe. The positive effects of fire include stimulating growth and maintaining various ecological systems. Fire has been used by humans for cooking, generating heat, signaling, and propulsion purposes. The negative effects of fire include water contamination, soil erosion, atmospheric pollution and hazard to human and animal life.
Read more about Fire: Fire Ecology, Fossil Record, Human Control, Protection and Prevention, Restoration
Other articles related to "fire, fires":
... Local government functions apart from the Police and Fire/Rescue services are carried out by four smaller unitary authorities Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, and Warrington ... Policing and fire and rescue services are still provided across the County as a whole, but by unelected bodies ... The Cheshire Police Authority and Cheshire Fire Authority consist of members of the four councils ...
... Masonry buildings can also be built to increase safety by reducing fire damage, such as the use of fire cuts during construction ...
... Different restoration methods and measures are used depending on the type of fire damage that occurred ... Fire damage can be performed by property management teams, building maintenance personnel, or by the homeowners themselves however, contacting a certified professional fire damage restoration ... Most are usually listed under "Fire and Water Restoration" and they can help speed repairs, whether for individual homeowners or for the largest of institutions ...
... Cooking oil is flammable, and fires may be caused by it igniting at too high a temperature ... Further, attempts to extinguish an oil fire with water cause an extremely dangerous condition, a boilover, as it causes the water to flash into steam due to the high heat of the oil, in turn sending the ... This is the leading cause of house fires in the United Kingdom ...
... X-Fire (pronounced 'Cross-fire'), was a paintball-based TV gameshow, aired on Channel 4 in the UK and presented by Ed Hall ...
Famous quotes containing the word fire:
“Can fire be carried in the bosom without burning one’s clothes? Or can one walk on hot coals without scorching the feet? So is he who sleeps with his neighbor’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 6:27-29.
“Men hold themselves cheap and vile; and yet a man is a fagot of thunderbolts. All the elements pour through his system: he is the flood of the flood, and fire of the fire; he feels the antipodes and the pole, as drops of his blood: they are the extension of his personality.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I haven’t much opinion of words.... They’re apt to set fire to a dry tongue, that’s what I say.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1874–1945)