A fire doubles in size every …. ? Fill in the blank and tell me your source.
Okay, which is it? Below is a list I put together from a quick scan of the Internet. It shows various versions of one of the most common phrases the fire service tells the public. As you will see there is clear lack of agreement over how long it takes a fire to double in size.
The countdown below starts at four-minutes and goes to a few seconds. These are all from fire department, government and commercial websites. That I can see, none of these claims shows a source to back up these seemingly authoritative statements.
I'm sure there are some fire service veterans reading this who can tell me where and how this "doubling in size" idea began. I am also sure I am not the first to ask this question. But If you can, please share with the class what study originally prompted this statement and the length of time that is correct.
"Statistically, a fire in a home doubles in size about every 4 minutes." – Town of Yarmouth (ME)
"A barn fire doubles in size every 3 minutes." – FireTracker.ca
"A fire can double in size every 2-3 minutes." – Albemarle County Fire & Rescue (VA)
"Household fires double in size every two and half minutes!" – Hammond Security
"On average, a fire doubles in size every 2 minutes." – Addison FPD (IL)
"Time is the mortal enemy of firefighters, since fire doubles in size every 90 seconds." – brookshirescombat.com
"A fire doubles in size every minute." – safehome.com; Merengo FPD (IL)
" Rate of growth – a typical uncontrolled fire will double in size every 45 to 60 seconds." – University Apartments, Residence Life (Michigan State University)
"Fires double in size every 30 seconds." – Iowa State University; Houston FD
"A home fire doubles in size every 30 seconds." – City of Phoenix
"A typical house fire doubles in size every 30 seconds. Using those figures, in 5 minutes, a small trash can fire will grow to over a 1000 square feet." – Parkersburg FD (WV)
"Fire doubles in size every 20 seconds." – Hawkeye Alarm; Chili FD (NY); Webco Security
"A fire doubles in size every 19 seconds!" – Community for Mental Health Central Michigan
"Fire Doubles in size every 18 seconds." – AmericanProtection.com
"Did you know that a fire can double in size every 10 to 20 seconds?" – Great Southern Wood Preserving
"Fire doubles in size every 14 seconds for the first 5 to 7 minutes." – Chesapeake FD (VA)
"A fire can double in size every 3 seconds". – Custom Security, Baton Rouge
"Once flames break out a fire doubles in size every few seconds." – Amerigard.com
"Small fires double in size every few seconds." – Coon Rapids FD ((MN)
