What Is a Fire Tetrahedron & How Does It Work?

3/19/2022 (Permalink)

If your home or business has any damage, SERVPRO of Biloxi/Ocean Springs/Gulfport is ready around the clock to help you recover.

Do you remember when you were in school and discussed the tetrahedron? If you can’t remember back that far, in short, a tetrahedron is a three-dimensional, triangular shape with four equal sides.

So, now that we understand what a tetrahedron is, let’s see what a fire tetrahedron is. There are four components needed for a fire to start—aka four sides—and without these elements working together, a fire can’t start.

The 4 Things a Fire Needs to Live

Fuel. In order for a fire to start or continue, it has to have something to burn. Things like woods, plastics and fibers are all perfect fuel sources for fire.

Heat. The amount of necessary heat will vary from substance to substance, but every object has a threshold at which point it will ignite.

Oxygen. When fire reacts with oxygen, it produces an expanding series of chemical reactions. Oxygen feeds the fire so that it can continue to grow and burn.

Chemical Chain Reaction. The continual cycle and feeding of heat, fuel and oxygen combine and produce a chain reaction. This chemical reaction keeps the fire going until one of the elements is removed.

The 4 Ways to Stop a Fire

Cool it. This is likely the first thing you think of. Buckets of water and hoses often offer the solution. Cooling the material to a thermal balance means the rate at which heat is generated can’t compete with the rate at which the heat is lost.

Smother it. When a fire doesn’t have access to oxygen, it will quickly die out. The process of smothering a fire is to deprive it of the oxygen it needs to continue. This is the principle behind the “stop, drop and roll” method of putting out a fire on clothing.

Starve it. A fire will burn until it runs out of adequate fuel. Things like grass, wood or other materials are the fueling sources. The best thing you can do is remove these fuel sources as the fire is trying to consume them.

Interrupt the chain reaction. Chemical agents such as halon can quickly put a stop to a fire by chemically disrupting the reaction that multiplies. Halon is a very effective chemical, but it produces an elevated potential for ozone depletion, making it an environmental threat. Because of this, the production of halon has been stopped.

If the fire tetrahedron makes a wreck of your home or business, we’re ready around the clock to help you recover. Contact SERVPRO anytime for fast, thorough cleanup and recovery after a fire.