How Do House Fires Spread So Quickly? | SERVPRO of East Cobb County

3/3/2022 (Permalink)

If your home has suffered smoke of fire damage call SERVPRO of East Cobb as soon as possible. We can help restore your property to preloss condition.

House fires are an extremely frightening thing to experience, but they are also quite common. An average of 350,000 house fires occur annually throughout the United States, leading to more deaths than all types of natural disasters combined and causing thousands in property damage as well.

Part of the reason why house fires are so dangerous and lead to so much damage is due to how quickly they spread. It can take mere seconds for a fire to turn dangerous and just minutes for a home to become fully engulfed in flames.

Below, we will be looking at how this happens and why house fires are able to spread through homes so quickly.

Why House Fires Can Spread So Quickly

| Many Items Around the House Can Catch Fire |

• While some things are obviously flammable, such as wood, there are other things that are also rather flammable that may be surprising. Things such as grease, crumbs in toaster trays, upholstery and carpet can all quickly spread flames throughout the home and aid in the fire’s growth.

| Fires Burn Extremely Hot | 

• As fires grow larger and larger, they burn hotter and hotter, which allows them to easily ignite objects that may not have burned easily in other parts of the fire. Smoke and hot air rising off of a fire are typically around 190 degrees Fahrenheit, which can damage many things in their wake.

| Fires Often Happen When No One is Home | 

• Quickly extinguishing a fire is the best way to mitigate the damages it can cause, but often, fires happen when no one is home—and are thus allowed to spread uninhibited. Fires can travel from spark to large flames in as little as 30 seconds, so the first few moments are so important to mitigating damage.

| More Synthetic Materials are Used Throughout Homes | 

• Synthetic materials, such as MDF and other types of synthetics used to make furniture and upholstery, tend to burn faster than natural materials—and this means that fires can often spread faster if there are a lot of synthetic materials present.

*If you’ve experienced fire damage to your home or business, do not hesitate to give SERVPRO of East Cobb a call at (770) 424-0400 or visit www.SERVPROeastcobbga.com for more information on our fire restoration and cleanup services. We are here 24/7 to help—contact us today to learn more.