# Can you freeze a fire out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-a-fire-out/516805 "2009-11-08T15:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-a-fire-out/516805/21 "2009-11-09T13:10:59Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > I areas where forest fires are sometimes a problem the newscasters often say lower temperatures will help suppress the fire. I don’t recall any explanation. A lower temperature (as in a drop, not any particular temperature) generally means less wind and an increase in humidity, making life easier on the firefighters. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-a-fire-out/516805/22 "2009-11-09T14:16:02Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > you could put a candle in a deep freezer with a video camera and an oxygen sensor and if the candle went out while there was still enough oxygen to support combustion then that would be an answer. > [@rockypg](#): > > 1. soot on the roof of my freezer > 2. risk if setting refrigerants (usually flammable) on fire - perhaps explosively > > One of those dont-try-this-at-home experiments eh? > > R experiments don’t all have to be done at home or without regard to safety. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-a-fire-out/516805/23 "2009-11-09T15:27:10Z")
> [@rockypg](#): > > How about fire-resistant safes? Don’t they have ceramic layers/other mechanisms to somehow limit what the internal temperature can get to for a few hours of high outside temperatures? As you note, a fire-resistant safe can delay the time at which the contests reach a damaging temperature by a few hours. The post by Slithy Tove said “the economy of San Francisco was stalled” which certainly implies days. [QUOTE=rockypg] If you open the door, you suddenly raise the inside temperature above the autoignition temperature, and _BLAZE_ [/QUOTE] Once the safe is cool enough to handle, opening it is more likely to decrease the internal temperature. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-a-fire-out/516805/24 "2009-11-09T16:03:50Z")
> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#): > > Back in grad school we hosted a superbowl party one January in Wisconsin. We knew from a few weeks earlier that the charcoal grill just would not stay lit when it was bone-ass cold outside. So for the Superbowl party, we bought a bottle of oxygen from a welding shop, hooked up a regulator and set up a trickle-feed via a copper tube into the bottom of the charcoal. > > We had great difficulty NOT burning our food to a crisp. [These guys](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBLr_XrooLs) apparently didn’t see the need for a regulator. > [@Xema](#): > > Like most flammable substances, paper has an [auto-ignition temperature](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoignition_temperature) - the link says something like 450 degress F. 451 IIRC. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-freeze-a-fire-out/516805.md?page=1)