# Fire and oxygen at high altitudes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-and-oxygen-at-high-altitudes/79623>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 4, 2001, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-and-oxygen-at-high-altitudes/79623 "2001-09-04T04:42:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-and-oxygen-at-high-altitudes/79623/21 "2013-04-04T15:01:20Z")

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> [@runner pat](#):
>
> You revived the thread for that?  
> And those towers weren’t at high altitude.

Not just revived but also joined today for that.

Oh well, your first one doesn’t have to be a big winner.

Welcome Skorpio.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-and-oxygen-at-high-altitudes/79623/22 "2013-04-04T15:55:03Z")

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> [@Ringo](#):
>
> **AWB** is right - incorrect info on my part. Because Halon oxidizes rapidly, it rids the environment of combustable and coincidentally breathable oxygen. Thus the safety measures. I believe Halon fire control systems are gradually being retired, actual production of Halon ceased in ~1994.

zombie or no

oxygen is not combustable. it does take part in combustion.

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**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-and-oxygen-at-high-altitudes/79623/23 "2013-04-04T23:03:01Z")

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> [@Dr.Lao](#):
>
> Old WWII planes could fly that high, but their engines are all equipped with turbochargers to compress the induction air.

Mostly they were mechanically driven superchargers. When metallurgy to make turbines survive in a recip. exhaust stream became available, it was quickly used to make jet engines instead. There was a post war period where turbines were added to exhaust and geared to the shaft (“compounding”) but the intake blowers were still driven from the crankshaft.

Turbocharging is quite a bit fussier, so took many decades to get right.

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