How Quickly Can A Fire Spread in Your Beacon House?

8/12/2021 (Permalink)

Have a reliable and efficient home fire escape plan in place that can be executed in under 3 minutes!

UNDER 3 MINUTES, make sure your family is prepared to evacuate quickly!

We all know that house fires are a super dangerous thing to encounter, but that can be difficult to grasp without knowing exactly what goes into the making of a house fire. To help provide some context for how house fires spread so rapidly and how important it is to be able to execute an efficient fire escape plan, we have put together a guide to what fire is, how it spreads and how quickly it can tear through your home.

What Is Fire?

To describe it easily, fire comes from a chemical reaction between air and a fuel source when it becomes hot enough to ignite. Once this occurs, the fire starts and releases decomposed material (in the form of smoke), char (a pure carbon substance) of whatever it burning and ash (which is all of the materials of the fuel source that are not able to burn). These are noxious and harmful to be around for any length of time, even small fires can do a lot of damage.

How Does Fire Spread?

All fire needs to sustain itself are heat, fuel and oxygen—also known as the fire triangle. The oxygen is a given and the fire is producing its own heat, so the flames will search for more fuel throughout the home. This is how a fire spreads so rapidly once the flames begin.

What Is the Typical Timeline of a House Fire?

The general rule of thumb is that you are supposed to be able to perform the whole escape plan in under three minutes, but have you ever wondered why? Fires spread remarkably fast, making a quick escape plan necessary. Here is a reliable timeline of a house fire:

0:00 to 0:30: The fire begins, and flames immediately start to grow.

0:30 to 1:00: Flames begin to spread through the room and smoke starts to build and pollute the air.

1:00 to 1:30: Smoke becomes thicker and the temperature starts to rise.

1:00 to 1:30: The fire alarm sounds, and everyone, including pets, need to evacuate immediately.

1:30 to 2:00: Smoke starts pouring into other rooms of the house.

2:00 to 2:30: The temperature in the area where the fire started will reach 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

3:00 to 4:00: Flames will continue to spread through the house and engulf the exterior walls.

Scary, right? When it’s broken down like this, it’s easier to understand what and why and how vital it is to move fast. The numbers really speak for themselves, so be ready with an evacuation plan, make sure your whole family has rehearsed it, revised it and rehearsed it again. We also recommend including your pets in this scenario to help things go smoother should an emergency arise.

If your home has been impacted by any kind of fire, we are here to help you 24/7. We’re here to help with restoration teams standing by no matter when you need us. SERVPRO of Western Dutchess County will help make it "Like it never even happened."