How Do Firefighters Put Out the Fire?

Cutting Off Fuel

• One way to kill a fire is to cut off its access to the fuel that allows it to burn. A gas fire may be controlled by cutting off the gas main, just as a grass fire can be cut off by tilling up nearby grass. Another example of this practice is wetting down areas of a house that have not yet burned.

Backfires

• Backfires are most often employed to combat wildfires, out in an area where the risks of losing control of a second fire are minimal. A backfire is an intentionally set fire between a wildfire and another area. Backfires fight fires in two ways. They burn up fuel that would have fed the original fire, and they deplete the immediate area of oxygen, a second vital element fires need to remain alive.

Flame Retardants

• Perhaps the most iconic method of fire fighting is spraying the fire with some kind of retardant. Water is the most common example, but chemical flame retardants are necessary for certain kinds of fires. Grease fires, for example, only spread if hit with water, so firefighters use a specialized chemical compound to extinguish them.