The word fire is defined by webster as the phenomenon of combustion manifested in light, flame, and heat. What this definiton does not tell you is how dangerous a fire can be if you are not aware of its capability to spread and grow rapidly. Fires can be very dangerous and harmful. It is important to education each other as much as possibe to help prevent injries or deadly accidents. There are four stages that happen in every fire. Those stages are Incipient, Growth, Fully Developed, and Decay. Each stage plays a role in every fire. Understanding each stage, and how to handle or prevent it is critical in becoming in control of a fire. Flameovers and backdrafts are not consider stages, but also are definitely factors of a fire. These factors sometimes can be prevented. Some methods of prevention are taugh at fire academies, or fire schools, to new firefighters, and are constistly being developed. Incipient, also know as the "ignition" stage, is the first stage of a fire. In this stage smoke may began before the fire actually flames up. This is the stage where heat, oxygen, and a fuel source combine to ignite the fire. At this stage it can be controlled by a household fire extinguinsher. Growth is the second stage of a fire. With the initial flame used as a heat sourse, more flames flare up. Flaring up makes the size of the fire increase and the plume reaches the ceiling. In a room hot gases meet at the celing of the roomwhich cause all fuels in that room to be closer to its ignition temperature. In which the fire will eventually spread. During this growth stage is when a flashover can happen. Flashovers occur when a room or other areas becomes heated to the point where flames flashover the entire surface. Temperatures soar to as much as one thousand degrees Fahrenheit in a few seconds. In full gear, a well trained firefighter is unlikely to survive a flashover. One way to help prevent flashover injuries are having the firefighters identify what a flashover looks like during training. Its dense black smoke with tightly packed curls that can push out of a doorway or a window opening . Fully developed is the third stage. This stage is when the fire is at its peek. By being at its peek, all available fuel is being burned. Temperatures get as high as they will go for that particular fire, resulting in heat damage. This is why firefighter are trained to stay low to the grown, because breathing in the fire at these temperatures can sear lungs. Decay, or burnout, is the last stage of a fire. Sometimes can be the longest stage. In this stage the fire has consumed all available fuel. The temperature will decrease. The fire will be less intense. This is when a backdraft can happen. A backdraft is an explosion that occurs when oxygen is rentered into a room while it was in the burnout stage. A fire needs oxygen to breath and to burn. So if oxygen is added to fire that is slowly going out it will only wake the fire up again in a sense. The most common tactic used by firefighters to defuse a dackdraft is to ventialate a room from its highest point, allowing the heat and smoke to escape without igniting.