Fuel-Controlled Fire
Definition
A compartment fire in which the rate of energy release is limited by the fuel supply (surface area, arrangement, reactivity) rather than by oxygen availability. Oxygen is in excess; combustion is relatively complete.
- Limiting factor
- Fuel supply: surface area, arrangement, reactivity
- Oxygen state
- In excess
- Combustion
- Relatively complete
- Contrast term
- Ventilation-controlled fire
Common questions
How does an investigator recognise a fuel-controlled fire at the scene?+
Burn patterns tend to follow the arrangement of combustibles closely, soot deposits are lighter because combustion is more complete, and the fire's growth rate correlates with how the fuel load was configured rather than with window or door openings.
Why does the distinction matter for fire cause determination?+
A fuel-controlled fire's damage pattern reflects the original fuel package fairly directly, which helps in reconstructing ignition location, whereas a ventilation-controlled fire can produce misleading patterns driven by air inlets rather than where it started.
Related terms
- Backdraft
- A deflagration event triggered when air is suddenly admitted to a compartment where a fire has been oxygen-depleted but has continued to...
- Deflagration
- A subsonic combustion front propagating through an explosive by thermal conduction. Characteristic of low explosives such as black powder and smokeless powder;...
- Equivalence Ratio (Phi)
- The ratio of actual fuel supply rate to the stoichiometric fuel supply rate for the available air. Values below 1 indicate fuel-controlled...
- Flashover
- The near-simultaneous ignition of all exposed combustible surfaces in a compartment, occurring when the upper gas layer reaches approximately 600°C and radiative...
- Hot Gas Layer
- The stratified layer of buoyant combustion gases that accumulates at ceiling level in a compartment fire. Its temperature rise drives flashover when...
- Low Burn Pattern (LBP)
- Fire damage at or near floor level in a compartment. Historically misattributed solely to poured accelerants; now recognised as producible by post-flashover...
- Neutral Plane
- The interface between the hot gas layer above and the cooler ambient air layer below in a compartment fire. Above the neutral...
- Ventilation-Controlled Fire
- A compartment fire in which the rate of energy release is limited by air inflow through ventilation openings. Fuel-rich conditions produce high...
- Ventilation Factor
- A parameter used in fully developed fire characterisation, calculated as Av × Hv^0.5, where Av is the area of ventilation openings (m²)...