In my recent post titled Canada on fire, I mentioned that Canada has been experiencing unprecedented wildfires this year, so today I’d like to introduce some vocabulary for speaking about fires in English.

How fires start

When something begins to burn, it catches fire or bursts into flames. 

Ex. My cat’s tail caught fire when it brushed against a candle.

We can talk about the cause of a fire by saying what ignited or sparked the fire.

Ex. The fire is believed to have been ignited by a lightning strike.

If someone created the fire, we can say that they set something on fire or that they set fire to something.

Ex. Arsonists set fire to the building overnight. (Arsonists are criminals who commit the crime of arson, which is “the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property.”)

If something begins to burn with no apparent cause, we can say that it spontaneously combusts. 

(Sometimes people set fire to an area on purpose - a controlled burn - as an agricultural or forest management technique.)

How fires burn

Burn is the most common verb to describe what fires do. It can be intransitive, as in “The fire is still burning,” or transitive, as in “The fire burned several acres of woodland.”   

Burn is also used in the phrasal verbs burn down and burn up. Buildings burn down when they are completely destroyed by fire. Other objects that are completely destroyed by fire burn up. Sometimes, both phrasal verbs can be used. Forests, for example, can burn down or burn up.

Another way to say that something is destroyed by fire is to say that it went up in flames/smoke. This may be used abstractly as well, as in “All of his dreams went up in smoke.” 

When a fire burns strongly and brightly, it blazes. A fire that is out of control may spread or race across a certain distance or area and engulf or consume things in its path.

Ex. Wildfires are racing across the province and have already consumed dozens of homes.

Even when fires do not completely destroy the things in their path, they may singe or scorch them, leaving damage and perhaps soot (a black powdery substance).

When a fire dies down (burns less intensely), it may smolder (also spelled smoulder, meaning “burn slowly with smoke but no flame”) until it goes out or dies completely or reignites (begins burning again). When people attempt to stop a fire, perhaps with water, they are trying to put it out (extinguish it).

Ex. The fire was still smoldering in the morning, so we threw a bucket of water on it to put it out before we left the campsite.

Ex. Add some wood to the fire before it goes out.

As for the sounds made by fires, small fires sizzle, medium fires crackle, and large fires roar.

Ex. We could hear the sound of the fire roaring as it got closer.

In Part 2, I will introduce a few more words associated with fire. Until then, take care and don’t get burned!