Fire Science Knowledge Hub

Fire science, explained by a fire researcher.

Q: Are EV fires more common than gas car fires?

No. Across U.S., Swedish, Australian, Norwegian, and Polish data, electric vehicles catch fire 20 to 80 times less often than gasoline cars per registered vehicle. EV fires are harder to extinguish, however, because a battery in thermal runaway generates its own heat and oxygen.

Q: What makes a room "flash over"?

Flashover happens when the hot smoke layer under the ceiling reaches roughly 500 to 600 °C and radiates about 20 kW/m² down onto the room, so every exposed combustible surface ignites almost at once. A dry Christmas tree releases enough heat to flash over a living room in under a minute.

Q: Is a LiPo battery the same as lithium-ion?

Yes — a LiPo battery is a lithium-ion battery. The "polymer" refers only to the gel electrolyte and pouch packaging, not to a different chemistry, so LiPo cells carry the same thermal-runaway fire risks as any other lithium-ion cell.

Q: Why is dryer lint such a fire hazard?

Lint is finely divided cellulose with an enormous surface-area-to-mass ratio, so it ignites easily and burns fast. When it accumulates around the heater and vent duct, one hot spot is enough — which is why most dryer fires start with lint, and why cleaning the filter every load matters.

Q: Why does smoke kill more people than flames?

In most fatal fires, victims are overcome by toxic gases before flames ever reach them. Carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide concentrate in the hot upper smoke layer, and a few breaths of it can incapacitate — which is why staying low and getting out early decides survival.

In-depth, free explainers on combustion, fire testing, battery safety and risk assessment, built on standards and peer-reviewed research.

By Duy Cuong DINH, fire safety researcher at Institut Pprime

A metal roof gutter packed with dry pine needles and cones, where four charred, glowing pieces of bark smoulder and a thin wisp of smoke rises, with pine trees and a dusk sky behind.

Home Hardening: Why Embers, Not Flames, Burn Down Houses

Most homes lost to wildfire never meet the flame front. See how embers get in, what home hardening buys in the field data, and where it stops working.

October 24, 2026 · 19 min read

New on PyroRisk

All 44 articles

A long, dim medieval oak roof attic seen down its length: steep rafters and heavy trusses form a timber tunnel over the rounded, dusty stone backs of the vaults, with a plank walkway down the middle and work lamps hanging from the beams.

Fire Case Studies

Notre-Dame Fire: Why an 800-Year-Old Roof Burned in Hours

October 16, 2026 · 19 min read

A test room built like a small nightclub stage: a low wooden platform in front of a recessed alcove, with grey egg-crate acoustic foam on the alcove and upper walls above brown wood paneling, and three thin instrument poles on the empty floor.

Fire Case Studies

Station Nightclub Fire: Why 100 People Had Only 90 Seconds

October 10, 2026 · 19 min read

A full-scale facade fire test rig in a bright laboratory hall: two tall walls clad in grey composite panels meet in a corner, with a square combustion chamber at the foot of the left wall holding a crossed stack of timber sticks.

Fire Case Studies

Grenfell Tower Fire: The Cladding Physics Behind 72 Deaths

October 6, 2026 · 19 min read

Learn fire science step by step

Three short courses built from PyroRisk articles. Each one starts simple and ends where the engineering begins.

Start here

Fire from first principles

What fire is, how solids feed it, and how fast it grows.

5 articles · 72 min Start with step 1

Battery users and engineers

Battery fire safety

How lithium-ion cells fail, spread fire, warn you and can be put out.

5 articles · 72 min Start with step 1

Engineers and students

Fire engineering and risk

How engineers test materials, time evacuations and decide how safe is safe enough.

5 articles · 91 min Start with step 1

Four numbers that explain fire risk

< 4 min

A modern furnished room can flash over in under 4 minutes, against 29 minutes for 1950s furnishings.
Read why: The Science of Fire: What You Think You Know Is Wrong
20–80×

Fewer fires per registered electric car than per gasoline car, across five national datasets.
Read why: Are EV Fires Really More Common Than Gas Car Fires?
268

Lithium-ion battery fires in New York City in 2023, which killed 18 people.
Read why: NYC's 2023 Battery Fires: 268 Incidents, 18 Deaths
1918

The year of the furnace curve that still defines a "2-hour" fire resistance rating.
Read why: 2-Hour Fire Wall: What a Fire Resistance Rating Measures

Fire safety at home

The physics behind the fires that start in kitchens, laundry rooms and living rooms, and what prevents them.

All Fire in Daily Life articles

A white duvet hangs down against the left side of a radiant space heater in a dark bedroom. Two quartz tubes glow orange behind the wire grille, grey smoke rises above the heater, and its cord runs to a wall outlet.

Fire in Daily Life

Space Heater Season: Why 3 Feet and Off at Night Save Lives

A space heater starts a small share of US home heating fires but causes most of the deaths. Radiant heat, tip-over physics and sleep explain why.

A modern home kitchen at twilight with a small contained kitchen fire burning in a stainless steel frying pan, flame reflecting off tiled backsplash and granite countertop, smoke drifting toward a ceiling-mounted photoelectric alarm

Fire in Daily Life

The Science of a Kitchen Fire: Why Water Makes It Worse

A kitchen fire starts when cooking oil creeps up to its 368 °C autoignition point. Here's the physics of why water makes a burning pan catastrophically worse.

Two round white smoke alarms mounted side by side on a hallway ceiling at night, with grey smoke drifting toward them from a doorway lit by a faint orange glow and a moonlit window at the right

Fire Safety Engineering

Ionization or Photoelectric Smoke Alarm? Why Experts Split

Ionization alarms beat a photoelectric smoke alarm by seconds in flaming fires, then lose by 30 minutes in smoldering ones. Here is why experts still split.

A thick mat of soft grey clothes-dryer lint held in warm window light against a dark laundry room, with a small orange ember glowing at one edge and a thin wisp of smoke rising, showing how easily fine lint ignites.

Fire in Daily Life

Dryer Fire Science: The Physics of Why Lint Ignites

A dryer fire almost always starts with lint. Here is the surface-area physics that turns soft fluff into fast fuel, plus the simple habit that prevents it.

Fire science questions, answered

Short answers drawn from the full articles. Open a question, then follow it to the analysis behind it.

Are EV fires more common than gas car fires?

No. Across U.S., Swedish, Australian, Norwegian, and Polish data, electric vehicles catch fire 20 to 80 times less often than gasoline cars per registered vehicle. EV fires are harder to extinguish, however, because a battery in thermal runaway generates its own heat and oxygen.

Read the full analysis: Are EV Fires Really More Common Than Gas Car Fires?

What makes a room "flash over"?

Flashover happens when the hot smoke layer under the ceiling reaches roughly 500 to 600 °C and radiates about 20 kW/m² down onto the room, so every exposed combustible surface ignites almost at once. A dry Christmas tree releases enough heat to flash over a living room in under a minute.

Read the full analysis: Christmas Tree Fire: Flashover in 60 Seconds Explained

Is a LiPo battery the same as lithium-ion?

Yes — a LiPo battery is a lithium-ion battery. The "polymer" refers only to the gel electrolyte and pouch packaging, not to a different chemistry, so LiPo cells carry the same thermal-runaway fire risks as any other lithium-ion cell.

Read the full analysis: Why a LiPo Battery Is Really a Lithium-Ion Battery

Why is dryer lint such a fire hazard?

Lint is finely divided cellulose with an enormous surface-area-to-mass ratio, so it ignites easily and burns fast. When it accumulates around the heater and vent duct, one hot spot is enough — which is why most dryer fires start with lint, and why cleaning the filter every load matters.

Read the full analysis: Dryer Fire Science: The Physics of Why Lint Ignites

Why does smoke kill more people than flames?

In most fatal fires, victims are overcome by toxic gases before flames ever reach them. Carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide concentrate in the hot upper smoke layer, and a few breaths of it can incapacitate — which is why staying low and getting out early decides survival.

Read the full analysis: Smoke Inhalation: Why the Upper Layer Kills You First

Browse all eight topics

All categories

Home Hardening: Why Embers, Not Flames, Burn Down Houses

1 article

Fire Case Studies

Real fires, read through the science, and what they changed.

All 3 articles

About the author

Written by Duy Cuong DINH

Postdoctoral researcher in fire safety, Institut Pprime, Université de Poitiers

My research focuses on battery fire safety, thermal runaway and fire testing methodology. PyroRisk turns that work, and the standards and data behind it, into articles anyone can read.

How every article is made

Built on primary sources

Standards, test data and peer-reviewed studies come first.
Every claim is linked

Each fact links to its source, so you can check it yourself.
Free and independent

No paywall and no sponsored posts.

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Fire science, explained by a fire researcher.

Home Hardening: Why Embers, Not Flames, Burn Down Houses

New on PyroRisk

Notre-Dame Fire: Why an 800-Year-Old Roof Burned in Hours

Station Nightclub Fire: Why 100 People Had Only 90 Seconds

Grenfell Tower Fire: The Cladding Physics Behind 72 Deaths