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Fire is the alchemist’s element. Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man 4/13: The Hidden Structure, BBC 1973
Fire is a process of transformation and change by which material elements are rejoined into new combinations. ibid.
When the rains started a week after the outbreak of the fire allowing an early stock-taking, the scale of the devastation horrified even the pessimists. 13,200 houses had been destroyed, along with some of the most famous buildings of the City. Simon Schama, A History of Britain: Revolutions, BBC 2000
The Great Fire of London burned for seven days. Over 13,000 buildings were destroyed. A Picture of London, BBC 2012
The worst inferno in London until the Blitz. The British IV: Dirty Money, Sky Atlantic 2012
Samuel Pepys has lived in London his entire life. His diary documents the fear of half a million Londoners. ibid.
It is your concern when your neighbour’s wall is on fire. Horace
I really don’t think we can underestimate the value of fire to our ancestors. Dr Alice Roberts, Origins of Us 2/3: Guts, BBC 2011
Which painting in the National Gallery would I save if there was a fire? The one nearest the door of course. George Bernard Shaw
It’s a pleasant thing to have a guest sharing a fire when the rain is beating on the roof. Saboteur 1942 starring Robert Cummings & Prescilla Lane & Otto Kruger & Alan Baxter & Clem Bevans & Norman Lloyd & Alma Kruger & Vaughan Glaser & Ian Wolfe & Dorothy Peterson & Selmer Jackson et al, director Alfred Hitchcock, Mr Martin
Fire, you swine! Battleship Potemkin 1925 starring Aleksandr Antonov & Vladimir Barsky & Grigori Aleksandrov & Ivan Bobrov & Mikhail Gomorov & Aleksandr Levshin & N Poltavseva & Konstantin Feldman & Beatrice Vitoldi et al, director Sergei Eisenstein, captain
Fire seasons are going to get a lot worse. Iain Stewart & Kathy Sykes, Hot Planet aka Future Earth, BBC 2009
The fire has cleared away the old growth on the ground. David Attenborough, The Living Planet III: The Northern Forests, BBC 1984
With nothing to stand in its way the blaze consumes anything that can’t flee. David Attenborough, Planet Earth e7: Great Plains, BBC 2006
If the temperature rises to 32 degrees Centigrade those substances in the clefts of the Cistus plant from the Mediterranean can spontaneously burst into flame ... From the ashes a new generation of Cistus quickly rises. David Attenborough’s Kingdom of Plants III, BBC 2012
Remarkably, around 50% of Earth’s inhabits depend on fire to keep healthy. David Attenborough, Planet Earth s3e6: Extremes, BBC 2023
Fight fire with fire. Mid-19th century proverb
No smoke without fire. Late 14th century proverb
The fire you kindle for your enemy often burns yourself more than them. Chinese proverb
The centre of Rome had been devastated by fire. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Rome: A History of the Eternal City II: Divine Gamble, BBC 2012
Many firefighters insist angels have helped them. Unexplained Mysteries
It has been called the Devil’s Fire. It’s extremely rare. And no-one understands how or why it happens. Unexplained Mysteries
There are 50 known cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion. ibid.
In many of the cases Ed [Professor Galea, Greenwich University] studied one obstacle to our survival appears time and time again – the failure to react even when the threat is staring you in the face. Nowhere is this more apparent than with fire. Horizon: How to Survive a Disaster, BBC 2009
Ten people died in the store [Woolworth’s]. Nine of them in the cafeteria. While others were fleeing for their lives, Ed believes these people fatally underestimated the danger. ibid.
The primary aim of every firefighter is to gain control of a fire as quickly as possible. Every firefighter knows an out-of-control fire can reach a point of no return. They call it a flashover. Horizon: Skyscraper Firefighters, BBC 2007
The major reason that people ignore major threat signals like fire alarms is peer pressure. Professor John Maul, Leeds University
Billy, in one of his nice new sashes,
Fell in the fire and was burnt to ashes;
Now, although the room grows chilly,
I haven’t the heart to poke poor Billy. Harry Graham, Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes, 1899
Maybe it’s because I’m a suppressed pyromaniac, but every time I see flames and sparks I think, hooray! Lucian Freud
Build a man a fire and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life. Terry Pratchett
C’mon, baby, light my fire. Jim Morrison, The Doors, 1967 song
Fire that’s closest kept burns most of all. William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona I ii 20, Lucetta to Julia
O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention. William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act I prologue
Thou art a soul in bliss; but I am bound
Upon a wheel of fire. William Shakespeare, King Lear IV vii 46
My father said always fight fire with fire. That’s why he was thrown out of the fire brigade. Harry Hill
A great fire shall fall from the sky for three nights. A thing shall happen stupendous and wonderful. And shortly after the ground shall quake. Nostradamus 1-46
A man can be short and dumpy and getting bald but if he has fire women will like him. Mae West
There may be a great fire in our soul, yet no-one ever warms himself at it, and passers-by see only a wisp of smoke. Vincent van Gogh
The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves – You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done. George Carlin
Kuda Bux, a young Kashmiri Muslim, demonstrates the firewalk in a Surrey Garden. Arthur C Clarke’s World of Strange Powers
Known as the ‘fire-proof man’ Singlee was a performer at Ripley’s Odditorium in Chicago in the 1930s. He is shown here putting a blow-torch to his bare skin, including his eyes. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! 2006
People who had purchased and paid for their meal, their fish and chips for example, even though they could see the smoke, even though they could smell the smoke, hear the alarms going off, they felt they had sufficient time to complete their meals before evacuating. Professor Ed Galea
The general public tends to underestimate the severity of fires and how dangerous fires can be. This is primarily because people no longer live with fire. Professor Ed Galea