Quarter 2 – Module 9:

The Elements of Fire Triangle

1. Which of the following is NOT an element of the fire triangle?

a. fuel
b. heat
c. hydrogen
d. oxygen

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the elements of the fire
triangle?
a. Whenever these three ingredients are present there will be fire.
b. There is no exact mixture of the three ingredients to produce fire.
c. Fire can be prevented or extinguished by removing any one of
the ingredients.
d. All of the given options.

3. The following are human-induced causes of fire, which of these is NOT a

product of human error?
a. gas leaks
b. faulty electrical wirings
c. unattended ignition sources
d. low condition motor vehicles

4. In cooking adobo, Morris lighted the firewood using matchsticks and

kerosene. He made sure that the fire will not die by fanning it. In this case,
which serves as the fuel?
a. adobo
b. lighting matchsticks
c. firewood and kerosene
d. fanning to provide wind

5. From situation in item 4, which serves as the ignition?

a. adobo
b. lighting matchsticks
c. firewood and kerosene
d. fanning to provide wind

6. How does fanning help to support continuous combustion in question item 4?

a. adding fuel
b. providing oxygen
c. lowering temperature
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d. increasing temperature

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7. Amor rolled over the floor in order to put off the fire that caught her clothes.
Which principle explains this?
a. fuel is removed in such case
b. temperature is increased by her action
c. rolling over the floor reduces the amount of oxygen that will support
fire
d. rolling over the floor lowers the temperature through an extinguishing
agent

8. A fire can be caused by the following combustibles- burning paper, wood and
gasoline. These combustibles serve as the .
a. fuel
b. heat
c. oxidation
d. extinguishing agent

9. Which of the following is required to start a fire?

a. fuel
b. ignition
c. oxidation
d. extinguishing agent

10. Sand can be added to fire in order to extinguish the latter by

a. removal of fuel
b. removal of heat
c. removal of oxygen
d. inhibiting extinguishing agents

11. It is the lowest temperature to which a substance must be heated to release

vapors that can cause a substance to burn when exposed to a flame or ignition
source.
a. accelerant
b. fire
c. fire triangle
d. flash point

12. Substances such as paint thinner, gasoline and alcohol which can speed up
the burning process are called
a. accelerants
b. explosives
c. extinguisher
d. flash point

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13. Water, sand, foams are examples of .
a. fuel
b. ignition
c. oxidation
d. extinguishing agent

14. Fuels may be found in three states of matter. What are these?
a. oil, wood, paper
b. solid, liquid, gas
c. paper, gasoline, vapors
d. vapors, hydrocarbons, plastic

15. The element of the fire triangle often eliminated in wildfires:

a. fuel
b. heat
c. oxidation
d. extinguishing agent

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Fire is considerably a friend but once fire is not controlled it could be one of
our greatest enemies. Irresponsibility may lead to disaster and everything may
change as fast as a split of a second. Based on the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP),
an average of 42 fire incidents were recorded from year 2013 to 2017. You probably
have heard of a fire that broke out at Kentex Manufacturing, a factory of slippers and
shoes in Valenzuela, Metro Manila on May 13, 2015. It is considered as the third
worst fire incident in our country killing 74 people trapped inside the said factory,
next to the 1996 Ozone Disco Club fire and the 2001 Manor Hotel fire that led to the
death of 162 and 75 people, respectively.

In all fire cases, loss of lives, jobs, investments and properties can literally go
up in smoke just in a matter of hours. Knowledge on the behavior, causes, effects
and safety tips can help save lives and properties.

1. When a combustible material is heated, it burns.

2. A small fire inside a glass container dies down when it is tightly covered.
3. In photosynthesis, sunlight and heat make chemical energy (in the form of
wood or fossil fuel); fire uses chemical energy to produce light and heat.
4. Fire is a thing, not an event.
5. Assuming stable fuel, heat, and oxygen levels, a typical house fire is
constant in size every minute until the fire dies down.
6. Earth is the only known planet where fire can burn.
7. Water can be produced by fire.
8. Using concentrated sunlight, ancient Greeks were able to start fire. A
parabolic mirror that focuses solar rays is still used to ignite the Olympic
torch.
9. Among the stages of fire, the last stage which is the “decay stage” takes the
longest time to finish.
10. All fire extinguishers are multipurpose, meaning each one can put out all
types of fire caused by any material.

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What is It

Ancient Greeks considered fire as one of their major elements like water, earth and
air. Unlike water, earth and air, fire is known to be just an event that happened when
matter changes from one form to another.

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermal chemical process of

combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. This diagram
below demonstrates the fire triangle.

The Fire Triangle

Figure 1. Fire Triangle is an illustration to help us understand the three important

elements needed to start and sustain fire. Right amount of these elements will let fire
occur naturally.

1. Fuel is any material that can be burned such as solid, liquid, or gas.
Combustion takes place when fuel is converted into gaseous state as
moisture is removed. This happens when vapor is escaping from any
combustible material.

2. Heat is an energy that flows through object. Enough amount of heat

would free the vapor from solid and liquid forms of fuel. The lowest
temperature needed to form an ignitable mixture in air near the surface
of the liquid is called the flash point. The higher the flashpoint, the
more difficult it is to ignite the material. The ignition of fire to solid and
liquid fuels varies. Most solid combustible materials ignite immediately.
Other solid combustible materials take time to ignite due to its density.

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3. Oxygen is an element, estimated 21% of it can be found in the air.
During combustion process chemical reaction takes place. Oxygen is
released and serves as an oxidizing agent for combustible materials.
Without an oxidizing agent like oxygen there will be no fire even if
heat and fuel are present.

The theory of fire extinguishment is based on removing any of the elements in the
fire triangle to suppress the fire.

1. REMOVING THE HEAT. The goal here is to lower the temperature which is
usually accomplished by adding water as an extinguishing agent. Other
extinguishing agents include chemical and mechanical foams.

2. REMOVING THE FUEL. In most cases, removing the fuel from the fire is not
a practical way of extinguishing fire except when dealing with flammable liquid
fires, valves can be shut off and storage vessels pumped to safe areas to help
eliminate the supply of fuel to the fire.

3. REMOVE THE OXYGEN. Air is mainly 21% oxygen and this is sufficient to
support combustion in most fire situations. Removal of the air or oxygen can
be accomplished by separating it from the fuel source or by displacing it with
other gases like carbon dioxide, nitrogen and steam. Examples of separation
would be foam on a flammable liquid fire, a wet blanket on a trash fire, or a
tight fitting lid on a skillet fire. Foam does not only lower temperature but
also remove oxygen.

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Many people are so fond of “memes”. A meme is a piece of image or illustration,
usually for humorous intent. It can also be used to simply spread or share an
information or message.

Your task is to create your own meme about this lesson. It could be
informative, funny or entertaining, or simply sharing safety tips or advice in
case of fire. Make sure that your meme serves its intended purpose, is
visually- appealing and has a good content.

Below is a sample of a funny meme about fire.

Figure 3. A witty meme on fire safety

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is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermal chemical
process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products.
Fire has three elements or ingredients namely , and
. All the three elements/ingredients of fire must come in
amount to cause fire and of at least one element can put out the
fire.
While not everything is known about the combustion process, it is generally
accepted that fire is a reaction. This reaction is dependent upon a
material rapidly undergoing process- a process that involves loss of
electrons, or uniting with oxygen so rapidly that it produces heat and flame.

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1. This determines how easily a fuel will burn.
a. color of fuel
b. mass of fuel
c. melting point
d. moisture content

2. Fuels may be found in three states of matter. What are these?

a. oil, wood, paper
b. solid, liquid, gas
c. paper, gasoline, vapors
d. vapors, hydrocarbons, plastic

3. Which of the following is NOT an element of the fire triangle?

a. fuel
b. heat
c. hydrogen
d. oxygen

4. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the elements of the fire
triangle?
a. Whenever these three ingredients are present there will be fire.
b. There is no exact mixture of the three ingredients to produce fire.
c. Fire can be prevented or extinguished by removing any one of the
ingredients.
d. All of the given options.

5. The following are human-induced causes of fire, which of these is NOT a

product of human error?
a. gas leaks
b. faulty electrical wirings
c. low condition motor vehicles
d. unattended ignition sources

6. Amor rolled over the floor in order to put off the fire that caught her clothes.
Which principle explains this?
a. fuel is removed in such case
b. temperature is increased by her action
c. Rolling over the floor reduces the amount of oxygen that will support fire.
d. Rolling over the floor lowers the temperature through an extinguishing
agent.

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7. Joey is frying tocino when he decides to watch his favorite TV series “Ang
Probinsyano”. When he comes back to check, the pan is already on fire. What
must he do?
a. pray
b. call the fire station
c. Try to cover the frying pan with wet towel.
d. Throw water to the fire or fan the fire as much as he could.
8. In cooking adobo, Morris lighted the firewood using matchsticks and
kerosene. He made sure that the fire will not die by fanning it. In this case,
which serves as the fuel?
a. adobo
b. lighting matchsticks
c. firewood and kerosene
d. fanning to provide wind
9. From question item 8, which serves as the ignition?
a. adobo
b. lighting matchsticks
c. firewood and kerosene
d. fanning to provide wind
10. How does fanning help to support continuous combustion in question item 8?
a. adding fuel
b. providing oxygen
c. lowering temperature
d. increasing temperature
11. It is the lowest temperature to which a substance must be heated to
release vapors that can cause a substance to burn when exposed to a
flame or ignition source?
a. accelerant
b. fire
c. fire triangle
d. flash point
12. Substances such as paint thinner, gasoline and alcohol which can speed up
the burning process are called
a. accelerants
b. explosives
c. extinguisher
d. flash point
13. The significance of the fire triangle lies in the fact that
a. At least two elements can start a fire.
b. Fire can be extinguished by accelerants.
c. If you add hydrogen, you can generate nuclear power.
d. If you take away one of the elements, you can put out fire.
14. Sand can be added to fire in order to extinguish the latter by
a. removal of fuel
b. removal of heat
c. removal of oxygen
d. inhibiting extinguishing agents

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15. The element of the fire triangle often eliminated in wildfires:
a. fuel
b. heat
c. oxidation
d. extinguishing agent

15.B 15.A
14.B 14.C
13.D 13.A
12.A 12.D
11.D 11.A
10.D 10.Fake 10.B
B 9. 9. Fact 9. B
A 8. 8. Fact 8. B
C 7. 7. Fact 7. C
6. B Fact 6. 6. D
5. D Fake 5. 5. D
4. C Fake 4. 4. C
3. C Fact 3. 3. D
2. C Fact 2. 2. B
1. D 1. Fake C 1.

Assessment What's More What I Know

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