Fire making, fire lighting or fire craft is the process of artificially starting a fire. It requires completing the fire triangle, usually by heating tinder above its autoignition temperature.
Typical contents of a tinder box. From left to right: flint, fire striker, char cloth and piece of mushroom.
Maasai warrior lighting a fire, blowing on it to add oxygen that encourages the fire to spread
A fire plough (left), as opposed to a hand drill (right)
Firesteel and flint used in Dalarna, Sweden in 1916.
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are produced. The flame is the visible portion of the fire. Flames consist primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen. If hot enough, the gases may become ionized to produce plasma. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity will be different.
A burning candle
Bushman starting a fire in Namibia
A coal-fired power station in China
The balanced chemical equation for the combustion of methane, a hydrocarbon
