The concept of transmission of heat is basic in the study of fire. This concept is also one of the most important concepts to grasp. Knowing how fire and heat travel is a way to predict what a fire is going to do and could save your life in a hazardous situation. There are three different ways that heat can be transmitted; conduction, convection and radiation. Being able to understand the three methods of heat transmission could really save your life. These methods of heat transmission are encountered on an every day basis as a firefighter, that's why it is very important to make sure you have a good idea of the characteristics of a fire. In some cases knowing the physics of a fire can help you predict what the fire is going to do. .
Conduction is the point to point transmission of heat. Conduction occurs after a fuel has already come in direct contact with a heat source. Conduction usually occurs during the incipient or free burning phase of the fire. The concept of conduction can easily be explained by heating one end of a piece of metal and eventually the other side will heat up. This is because the heat is moving to the cooler atoms in search of being cooled down. This is an important concept because, during overhaul, if a piece of pipe that was exposed to heat on the floor below you has heated the pipe that you are working around, it could still be very hot and could burn you.
Convection is also a very important idea to understand. Convection is basically the theory of heat rising. This method of heat transmission could be described by holding your hand over an open flame. It doesn't matter if your hand is one inch or five inches away from the flame, you can still feel the heat. The closer your hand to the fire the hotter it gets because the concentrated levels of superheated atoms is greater near the source of the fire. Understanding this theory can prevent you from making a deadly mistake on the fire ground.