What are the three parts of the fire triangle?

• A. Water, Heat, Oxygen
• B. Fuel, Heat, Oxygen
• C. Fuel, Water, Oxygen
• D. Fuel, Heat, Water

Answer: (B)

Fire cannot start or continue unless three elements are present: fuel, heat, and oxygen. Fuel is what the flames burn, providing the material to consume. Heat raises the fuel to its ignition temperature and keeps the chemical reaction going. Oxygen acts as the oxidizer that supports the combustion process. If you remove any one of these, the fire is extinguished: cooling lowers the temperature so the fuel won’t ignite, removing the fuel eliminates the material to burn, and starving the fire of oxygen deprives the flame of the oxidizer.

Water appears in some answer choices as a component of combustion, but it’s not one of the elements that fuel a fire. It’s used to remove heat. That’s why the correct trio is fuel, heat, and oxygen, not something including water.