Whether it occurs in the workplace, home, or elsewhere, it is easy to underestimate the unique and serious dangers fire poses to people, assets, equipment, and physical structures. A burning fire is a fascinating chemical chain reaction, and extinguishing a fire is a matter of disrupting that chain reaction. The better you understand how a fire starts—including the basic science of what components are required for it to ignite and burn—the better you’ll be prepared when you need to extinguish a fire.