Fire Tetrahedron
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Knowing about the fire tetrahedron can save your life.
In survival situations, fire is certainly a basic and important element. Knowing how to build a fire anytime anywhere means your chances of survival, come what may, are greatly increased. The successful survivor skill set includes being expert in the art of firecraft.
The heat and light a fire provides are useful for staying warm, drying equipment and clothing, cooking and preserving food, making water safe to drink, lighting the darkness, improvising survival gear, and even keeping animals at bay. Fire is also very valuable in that it helps boost the morale of the survivor.
From a purely utilitarian aspect we all know that fire requires fuel in the form of wood, gas, coal, and many other substances found in nature. Plenty of air, and some sort of way to set it off using a spark or flame are also required. Once the fire is going its source of fuel and air are consumed and need to be replenished in order to keep burning. For thousands of years mankind has been making fires with little more understanding of the process than this.
But just what does it take to successfully start and maintain a fire? The survivor has a natural curiosity to dig deeper into the secrets of nature. With fire being so important for the ability to survive, understanding the true mechanics of fire can help in the creation of fire and fire maintenance.
The Fire Tetrahedron Model
Fire requires four elements in order to start and continue to burn. These basic elements of fire are called the fire tetrahedron and include heat, fuel and oxygen. The forth element of fire is a self-sustaining chemical reaction called "combustion" that produces continued heat that serves to keep the fire burning.
To help illustrate that these four elements must occur together in order for a fire to exist, the 4-sided pyramidal shaped tetrahedron model was developed. Remove any one of these elements from the fire tetrahedron and the fire will not start or, if already burning, will be extinguished.
Fuel
To start and maintain a fire you need the right kind of fuels. While burning, the energy stored in fuel combusts and releases heat, light, and other forms of radiation energy. Removing the fuel breaks the fire tetrahedron model and the fire will stop burning.
Heat
To initially start a fire it is necessary to apply heat to the fuel in the form of a flame or spark. This heat must raise the fuel to its ignition temperature. Continued heat is then needed to keep the fuel at its ignition temperature and therefore keep the fire going. This heat is usually supplied by the fire itself. If too much heat is removed the fire tetrahedron model breaks and the fire will become extinguished.
Oxygen
Oxygen is an invisible gas in the air that fire consumes as part of the burning process. The oxygen sustains the fire and as it is used up must be replaced. Otherwise the fire will go out due to its removal from the fire tetrahedron model.
Sustaining Chemical Reaction
A burning fire is actually a chemical reaction that consumes fuel and oxygen to produce heat and light as byproducts. Stop this chemical reaction and the fire tetrahedron is broken.
What is Fire?
Fire, also known as combustion, is the process of rapid oxidation at high temperatures. This releases hot gases, light, and invisible forms of radiation energy.
Oxidation is a common process. Rust is formed on iron through its interaction with oxygen in the air and we metabolize our food through oxidation in our bodies. The difference between fire and other oxidation processes is speed. Fire is the process of very rapid oxidation, which releases greater amounts of heat and other forms of energy in a given time.
Scientifically, fire as an oxidation reaction works in this way:
- Fuel (a reducing agent) and oxygen (an oxidizing agent) are present.
- Heat is added (a flame or spark), the fuel and oxygen molecules gain energy and become active.
- This molecular energy is transferred to other fuel and oxygen molecules, creating a chain reaction.
- Oxidation occurs when the fuel looses electrons and the oxygen gains electrons.
- The electron transfer emits heat, which excites still more molecules in the fuel oxygen mix, continuing the oxidation reaction in a self-sustaining cycle.
Once a fire starts, the fire tetrahedron model shows that it will continue to burn until
- all the fuel or oxygen has been used.
- the fuel and / or the oxygen has been removed.
- the temperature of the materials is reduced below the ignition temperature.
- the chain reaction is broken by reducing the number of excited molecules.
Putting the Fire Tetrahedron to Work
Whether you are starting a fire using matches, magnesium firestarter, Swedish firesteel, flint and steel, or even batteries and steel wool, your newfound knowledge of the fire tetrahedron's four elements required to start and maintain a fire will help you survive in the wilderness.
Waxhaw, NC
Good to know when starting fires with the fire teepee, fire star, log cabin method, etc.
Vienna
Combustion causes the flame.
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Trinidad