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1. Home
2. Incidents
3. Fires
4. Types of fire

Types of fire

Building fires

We fight fires in every sort of building: people’s homes, in high rise office buildings, factories, shops, schools, restaurants, hotels, electrical substations, sporting facilities, scout halls and museums.

In all building fires, the priority is to save lives. Firefighters are trained to search a burning building, wearing breathing apparatus to protect themselves from the smoke, and rescue any occupants. In homes, this includes searching in and under beds, in cupboards or behind furniture or anywhere else where someone may have fallen or hidden. In high rise buildings and commercial premises like factories and shopping centres, firefighters work with the building fire wardens and use the fire safety systems to protect and evacuate the occupants as well as conducting search and rescue.

The second priority is to save property. We aim to stop the fire spreading and then put it out as fast as possible, minimising the damage to property. In 2001/02 we confined 65% of building fires to the object or room of origin. Once the fire is out, we assist the building owners and occupiers by salvaging furniture or other items from the damaged area, protecting them from further smoke or water damage, making sure that nothing is left smoldering and all safety hazards are identified and the premises are secure.

Industrial fires

Fires in industrial premises present particular challenges to firefighters as they involve a wide range of machinery, industrial processes and products. Often, special firefighting techniques have to be used. For example, foam rather than plain water may be used to smother chemical fires. Fires inside industrial machinery can be hard to get to and there may be the risk of dust or gas explosions. Fires in bulk storage areas can also be difficult; the product being stored may be flammable, explosive, corrosive or poisonous and it can be difficult for firefighters to get at the seat of the fire to put it out. For example, fires in piles of car tyres create large quantities of toxic smoke and can take days to put out as the unburnt tyres have to be moved away from the burning tyres. While fighting these sorts of fires we also monitor the effect of the fire on the environment and take measures to limit the damage, for example by building dams to contain the water running off the fire so that it does not pollute the environment.

Transport fires

We put out car fires, train fires, fires in trucks and semi-trailers and fires involving aircraft. We also fight fires on ships, including bulk cargo ships, passenger ships and pleasure craft. Often, transport fires also involve rescuing people trapped in the vehicles, and we stand by at rescues in case a fire breaks out. Transport fires can also involve hazardous materials, such as tankers full of petrol or containers of chemicals.