forest fire: see forestry.

fire-eaters, in U.S. history, term applied by Northerners to proslavery extremists in the South in the two decades before the Civil War. Edmund Ruffin, Robert B. Rhett, and William L. Yancey were the most notable of the group. As early as 1850, at a convention held in Nashville, Tenn., the "fire-eaters" urged secession upon the South, but the Compromise of 1850 and more moderate counsel combined to postpone that event for another 10 years. Although the "fire-eaters" were in large measure responsible for the movement to organize a separate Southern government, they filled minor offices under the Confederacy.

fire, forest: see forestry.

fire insurance: see insurance.

fire fighting, the use of strategy, personnel, and apparatus to extinguish, to confine, or to escape from fire.

Fire-Fighting Strategy

Fire fighting strategy involves the following basic procedures: arriving at the scene of the fire as rapidly as possible; assessing the nature of the fire by determining its intensity and extent, the type and abundance of fuel, the danger of entering the fire area, and the most effective techniques for extinguishing the fire; locating and rescuing endangered persons; containing the fire by protecting adjacent areas; ventilating the fire area to allow for the escape of heat and toxic gases; and, finally, extinguishing the fire.

Fire-Fighting Personnel

In most cities, firefighters are trained members of government-supported organizations, such as fire departments. Elsewhere, fire-fighting organizations are primarily composed of volunteers, or "vols." Fire-fighting organizations also help design and implement fire-prevention programs, which may include such measures as building codes requiring fire alarms, regularly located fire-extinguishing equipment, internal fire walls to help contain a fire, sprinkler systems, the use of fire-retardant construction materials, and safe electrical wiring. Educating the public about fire safety and fire-prevention practices is an important part of all fire-prevention programs.

Fire-Fighting Apparatus

Fire-fighting vehicles have evolved into highly specialized equipment. Ladder trucks provide access to buildings as much as 100 ft (30 m) high; snorkel trucks enable firefighters to douse fires from above. In addition, modern fire apparatus includes rescue trucks, mobile laboratories, searchlight cars, double-ended tunnel engines, smoke ejectors, high-pressure spray trucks, foam trucks, and even coffee wagons. For fires of long duration there are tank trucks to bring extra fuel to the pumpers. The modern diesel pump delivers about 2,000 gal per min (8,000 liters per min) through lightweight hose 1 in. (2.5 cm) to 2.5 in. (6.3 cm) in diameter, reinforced with artificial fibers. A fireboat, not limited to hydrant supply, can deliver as much as 10,000 gal per min (40,000 liters per min). Airports have specially equipped crash trucks, and refineries have chemical applicators.

The commonly seen metal cylinder with a short hose attached is the soda-and-acid extinguisher; inside it, above a solution of soda and water, is a container of acid. When the extinguisher is inverted, the acid mixes with the solution and reacts with the soda to generate carbon dioxide; gas pressure then forces the solution out of the hose. A foam extinguisher is a cylinder containing water, sodium bicarbonate, an agent (often licorice powder) for strengthening the foam, and an inner container of aluminum sulfate powder. Mixed together, these ingredients form a foam of carbon dioxide bubbles. A carbon dioxide extinguisher consists of a tank of liquid carbon dioxide under pressure. When released, the carbon dioxide forms flakes that vaporize and blanket the fire.

Extinguishing Fires

For a fire to occur, there must be available oxygen, a supply of fuel, and enough heat to kindle the fuel. Therefore, the three basic ways of extinguishing fire are to smother it, to cut off the fuel supply, or to cool it below the flammability temperature. Fires are classified into four types: those in solids, e.g., wood, paper, and cloth; those in flammable liquids, e.g., gasoline, alcohol, oils, lacquers, and paints; those in electrical apparatus; and those in flammable metals such as magnesium. These are called, respectively, class A, B, C, and D fires.

Characteristics of Extinguishing Substances

Certain dry materials that melt and coat the burning material, thus excluding air, are useful against all classes of fire. In certain cases inert gases such as argon or nitrogen are used to fight fires in materials that would react dangerously with water or with other extinguishing agents; sodium and water, for example, is a dangerous combination.

Water, although supplanted somewhat by other materials, is still the most common substance used for quenching class A fires, which are the most common types of fire; water both cools and helps smother the fuel. Buckets of water are the simplest equipment for fighting small fires in solids. More effective are fire extinguishers capable of directing a stream of water. Wetting agents called detergents make water more penetrating, especially for such objects as cotton bales and mattresses.

Class B fires cannot be fought with water unless it is sprayed in a fine mist, for flammable liquids will usually float on water and spread. Foam is most often used to suffocate class B fires, particularly oil fires.

Since both water and foam conduct electricity, neither can be used against class C fires unless a fog nozzle, which produces tiny droplets that burst into a smothering blanket of steam, is employed. Halogen compounds and carbon dioxide are effective agents in fighting class C fires and are also used against flammable liquids and small fires in solids. Halogen compounds such as carbon tetrachloride turn into a vapor that settles over a fire, smothering it. Unfortunately, most halogen vapors are both toxic and corrosive; but for enclosed spaces where water damage would be as disastrous as fire damage, it is the agent of choice. In any case, nearly all professional firefighters today are equipped with oxygen tanks. Dry-chemical extinguishing agents, such as fine sodium bicarbonate, can be used on class B and C fires but are especially effective against class B fires.

Special Equipment and Techniques

Buildings are protected against fire most effectively by protective sprinkler systems. In most sprinkler systems, water circulates through overhead pipes whose outlets are normally closed; at high temperatures the outlets open, spraying water on the fire. Most large buildings also provide water for fire fighting through a standpipe system with hose connections on each floor. Forest and brush fires are fought by making a firebreak and by covering the fire with extinguishing substances. A narrow strip is cut and cleared in front of the fire down to mineral soil. Embers flying into the strip are put out, while water and other fire-extinguishing substances are spread from land-based vehicles or are dropped on the fire from the air. Oil-field fires demand multiple approaches: water streams, fogs, foams, and explosives may all be used simultaneously to quench a fire and prevent its reignition.

History of Fire Fighting

Ancient Rome is known to have had a fire department consisting by the 1st cent. of approximately 7,000 paid firefighters. These fire brigades not only responded to and fought fires, but also patrolled the streets with the authority to impose corporal punishment upon those who violated fire-prevention codes. The inventor Ctesibius of Alexandria devised the first known fire pump c.200 B.C. but the idea was lost until the fire pump was reinvented about A.D. 1500. The only equipment available to fight the London fire in 1666 were two-quart hand syringes and a similar, slightly larger syringe; it burned for four days. Elsewhere in Europe and in the American colonies fire fighting equipment was equally rudimentary. The London fire stimulated the development of a two-person operated piston pump on wheels.

In 1648, Governor Peter Stuyvesant of New Amsterdam (New York City) was the first in the New World to appoint fire inspectors with the authority to impose fines for fire code violations. Boston imported (1679) the first fire engine to reach America. For a long time the ten-person pump devised by the English inventor Richard Newsham in 1725 was the most widely used. The inventor Thomas Lote of New York built (1743) the first fire engine made in America. About 1672 leather hose and couplings for joining lengths together were produced; though leather hose had to be sewn like a fine boot, fabric and rubber-treated hose did not come into general use until 1870. A steam fire engine was built in London in 1829, but the volunteer fire companies of the day were very slow to accept it. When a group of insurance companies in New York had a self-propelled engine built in 1841, the firefighters so hindered its use that the insurance companies gave up the project. Finally, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the public forced a steam engine on the firefighters.

The aerial ladder wagon appeared in 1870; the hose elevator, about 1871. Gasoline engines were at first used either as pumping engines or as tractors to pull apparatus. In 1910 the two functions were combined, one engine both propelling the truck and driving the pump. Modern equipment is usually diesel powered, and multiple variations of the basic fire engine enable firefighters to respond to many types of emergency situations.

fire extinguisher: see fire fighting.

fire escape, in architecture, device, either fixed or movable, to facilitate escape from a burning building. In the United States the term usually is applied to the common iron balconies and stairways or ladders that give exterior egress from each floor to the ground. In England the term refers to a portable extension ladder that may be wheeled up to a burning building to enable occupants to escape when ordinary exits are cut off.

fire engine: see fire fighting.

fire clay, clay that has a high degree of resistance to heat. By the best standards it should have a fusion point higher than 1,600°C;. The term "fire clay" is commonly held to exclude kaolin and other refractory potter's clays. Fire clay should contain high percentages of silica and alumina, with as little as possible of such impurities as lime, magnesia, soda, and potash, which lower the fusion point of the clay. Fire clay often forms the bed layer of earth under seams of coal. Two types are recognized—flint clay, exceedingly hard, nonplastic, and resembling flint in appearance, occurring in the United States; and plastic fire clay. The principal uses of fire clay are in the manufacture of firebrick and of various accessory utensils, such as crucibles, saggers, retorts, and glass pots, used in the metalworking industries.

fire, the phenomenon of combustion as seen in light, flame, and heat; it is one of the basic tools of human culture. In ancient Greece and later, fire was considered one of the four basic elements, a substance from which all things were composed. Its great importance to humans, the mystery of its powers, and its seeming capriciousness have made fire divine or sacred to many peoples. Fire as a god is a characteristic feature of Zoroastrianism, in which, as in many sun-worshiping religions, fire is considered the earthly representative or type of the sun. The belief that fire is sacred is widespread in mythology, and such beliefs have survived in some highly developed cultures. The connection between the Greek colony and the metropolis was the fire kindled in the colony from a brand brought from the mother city's fire. The most carefully preserved cult in Rome was that of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, and her virgins guarded the holy fire. One of the greatest Greek myths is the story of Prometheus, the fire bringer. The theft of fire is a common element in the myths of many other cultures. The ramifications of the human ideas about fire are tremendously complex, extending as they do into the concepts about light and the heavens.

Saint Elmo's fire, luminous discharge of electricity extending into the atmosphere from some projecting or elevated object. It is usually observed (often during a snowstorm or a dust storm) as brushlike fiery jets extending from the tips of a ship's mast or spar, a wing, propeller, or other part of an aircraft, a steeple, a mountain top, or even from blades of grass or horns of cattle. Sometimes it plays about the head of a person, causing a tingling sensation. The phenomenon occurs when the atmosphere becomes charged and an electrical potential strong enough to cause a discharge is created between an object and the air around it. The amount of electricity involved is not great enough to be dangerous. The appearance of St. Elmo's fire is regarded as a portent of bad weather. The phenomenon, also known as corposant, was long regarded with superstitious awe.

Peshtigo Fire: see under Peshtigo.

Greek fire, a flammable composition believed to have consisted of sulfur, naphtha, and quicklime. Although known in antiquity, it was first employed on a large scale by the Byzantines. Bronze tubes that emitted jets of liquid fire were mounted on the prows of their galleys and on the walls of Constantinople. The Byzantines in 678 and again in 717-18 destroyed two Saracen fleets with Greek fire.

Fire Island, barrier beach, 32 mi (52 km) long, off the south shore of Long Island, SE N.Y., separating Great South Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Robert Moses State Park is at its west end. Once accessible only by boat, Fire Island is now linked with Long Island by bridge and causeway, but automobile access is limited; ferry services connect it with South Shore towns. A retreat of New York City residents, Fire Island has long been noted for its varied communities, including resorts favored by gay vacationers. The Fire Island National Seashore (est. 1964) embraces all of the island except the state park (see National Parks and Monuments, table).

Camp Fire Boys and Girls, American organization for boys and girls from birth to age 21, originally the Camp Fire Girls, for girls 6 to 18 years old. It was founded (1910) by Luther Halsey Gulick (1865-1918) and other educators "to perpetuate the spiritual ideals of the home" and "to stimulate and aid in the formation of habits making for health and character." Boys were invited to join in 1975, and the organization was renamed; boys now comprise 45% of the membership of 667,000 (1999). Camp Fire runs resident camping, child-care, and self-reliance programs, as well as coeducational clubs led by adult volunteers.

Religious ceremony that involves walking across hot coals, red-hot stones, or burning wood. It has been practiced in many parts of the world, including ancient Greece, India, Japan, China, Tahiti, New Zealand, Bulgaria, and Spain. The most common form of fire walking involves striding across a layer of embers spread thinly over the bottom of a shallow trench. More rarely, devotees may walk through a blazing log fire. The reasons for fire walking include purification and as an ordeal to prove innocence. Devotees believe that only those who lack faith will be burned, and many fire walkers do escape without injury.

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Means of rapid egress from a building, primarily intended for use in case of fire. Building codes define an exit as an enclosed and protected path of escape in the event of a fire, leading from an exit access through a combination of corridors, stairways, and doors to an exit discharge at an exterior court or public way. The term fire escape usually refers to open iron or steel balconies with steep stairways on the outside of buildings; often a retrofit of older buildings, these are rare in new construction. Other means of escape are by balconies leading to adjacent buildings, or through chutes, often used in hospitals.

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Any of a genus (Solenopsis) of insects in the ant family, several species of which are common in southern North America. They are red or yellowish and can inflict a severe sting. The semipermanent nest consists of a loose mound with open craters for ventilation. The workers (see caste) are notorious for damaging planted grain and attacking poultry.

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Rapid burning of combustible material, producing heat and usually accompanied by flame. For eons, lightning was the only source of fire. The earliest controlled use of fire seems to date to circa 1,420,000 years ago, but not until circa 7000 BC did Neolithic humans acquire reliable firemaking techniques, including friction from hardwood drills and sparks struck from flint against pyrites. Fire was used initially for warmth, light, and cooking; later it was used in fire drives in hunting and warfare, and for clearing forests of underbrush to facilitate hunting. The first agriculturalists used fire to clear fields and produce ash for fertilizer; such “slash-and-burn” cultivation is still used widely today. Fire also came to be used for firing pottery and for smelting bronze (circa 3000 BC) and later iron (circa 1000 BC). Much of the modern history of technology and science can be characterized as a continual increase in the amount of energy available through fire and brought under human control.

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Glow accompanying the brushlike discharges of atmospheric electricity that usually appears as a tip of light on the extremities of such pointed objects as church towers or the masts of ships during stormy weather. It is commonly accompanied by a crackling or fizzing noise. It is commonly observed on the periphery of propellers and along the wing tips, windshield, and nose of aircraft flying in dry snow, in ice crystals, or near thunderstorms. St. Elmo is an Italian corruption of St. Erasmus, patron saint of Mediterranean sailors, who traditionally regarded St. Elmo's fire as a sign of his guardianship over them.

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Any of several flammable mixtures used in ancient and medieval warfare, particularly a petroleum-based mixture invented by the Byzantine Greeks in the 7th century. Flammable materials such as pitch and sulfur had been used in war since ancient times, but true Greek fire was especially deadly. Thrown in pots or discharged from tubes, it apparently caught fire spontaneously, and water could not put it out. Greek fire launched from tubes mounted on ship prows wrought havoc on the Arab fleet attacking Constantinople in 673. Its effectiveness was a prime reason for the long survival of the Byzantine Empire. The recipe was so secret that its precise composition remains unknown.

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Elongated sandspit, off the southern shore of Long Island, New York state, U.S. The island measures 32 mi (51 km) long and 0.5 mi (1 km) at its widest, and its name refers to fires that were built there as signals to ships during the War of 1812; a lighthouse was built at its western tip in 1858. Now a popular summer resort, it is connected to Long Island by two bridges and by ferry. Fire Island (now Robert Moses) State Park was opened in 1908, and a 19,000-acre (7,700-hectare) section of the island was dedicated as a national seashore in 1964.

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