combustion or burning, in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air and typically give out bright light, heat, and smoke.
Questions tagged [fire]
28 questions
8
votes
1 answer
Is federal firefighting the cause for the increase of US forest fires and their severity?
On the Cato Institute's website is this claim:
The heightened danger to national forests is, ironically, the result of longstanding federal efforts to suppress fires going back many decades. Those efforts have produced an enormous buildup of small…
user20862
7
votes
1 answer
Was the heart of the buddhist monk Quảng Đức intact after cremation?
The Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức self-immolated during a political protest and it is reported that
The monk’s remains were ordered cremated for burial, but something unexplainable happened: witnesses said his heart would not burn. Even after a…
Dinisaur
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7
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Do fire shelters save lives?
19 wildfire firefighters died in Arizona today, and the articles mention that they appear to have used their fire shelters:
the 19 firefighters were found in an area that also had 19 fire shelters deployed. Some of those found were inside a…
Drew
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6
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1 answer
Are the 2019 Amazon rainforest fires only 7% higher than the 10 year average?
This article makes the following claim:
While the number of fires in 2019 is indeed 80% higher than in 2018, it’s just 7% higher than the average over the last 10 years ago, Nepstad said.
However I've not been able to find any additional…
David says Reinstate Monica
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Is water that can be set on fire safe to drink?
In this newly release video by RT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1A3x7AyIVo
A man sets water on fire that is pouring from his well, the narrator reads:
The local government of Texas, tells Steve Lipsky that the water from his well, water that he…
DMINATOR
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5
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Is aerial firefighting an effective way of combating forest fires?
Every summer we see the same image: brave firefighters flying helicopters and planes with tanks full of water or fire retardant over yet another forest fire. But is there actual evidence on whether or not these tactics ar effective? Have there been…
JonathanReez
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Does jet fuel have a maximum burning temperature of 980 °C?
ME Petroleum are an oil trading company. They have a page of Jet Fuel facts, where they explain that the standard specification of Jet Fuel is JET A-1 (a.k.a JET A).
They also claim the "Maximum burning temperature" of Jet A-1 fuel is 980 °C.
(While…
Random832
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4
votes
1 answer
Make fire with a potato, salt, and toothpaste?
I saw a video recently that seemed to show a fire being started from a potato, salt, toothpaste, a couple of wires, and what appears to be cotton.
A video showing this is HERE. To summarize, it looks like they:
cut a potato in half
cut a rounded…
Denys P.
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4
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Are coal seams in Blue Mountains (Australia) burning?
The only source I found is a tweet that does not link to evidence, and I couldn't find reference to this with a quick search.
Coal seams in the Blue Mountains caught fire today, so it’s gone beyond the biomass above ground and into the geological…
l0b0
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Did a firefighter rescue a cat from a still-burning house?
From twitter user @Earth_Pics:
Firefighter in Denmark rescues cat from burning house.The way he hugs
cat and the expressions of cat says it all.
Note: the white stuff is probably snow, not ash.
An image of this was posted to Reddit, and has…
Andrew Grimm
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votes
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Can repeatedly turning on and off lights cause a fire?
The old and pretty common tail told by parents to their children is something similar to "If you keep switching the light on and off you will start a fire!".
Is this even possible? If so, are there any statistics to back this up? Whats the…
JBis
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votes
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Did German troops ignite pools of kerosene on a ship in March 1943?
A recent video on the YouTube Lindybeige channel relates the story of Operation Creek in WWII in which irregular British forces invaded a German ship off Goa (now in India), March 1943. He cites James Leasor's book Boarding Party (full version of…
Daniel R. Collins
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Does this video show the Notre Dame fire being deliberately lit?
There are some videos online that appear to show flashes of light on top of notre dame cathedral prior to the fire.
https://youtu.be/K046fjanNmY?t=47
However, the roof of the structure was metal.
Does this video show someone starting the fire?
bandybabboon
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