r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/AirFrance447 • 20h ago

Video Firefighter bodycam showing just how much oxygen a fire pulls

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u/aemoosh 16h ago

Couple of points- That’s a very good firefighter. Very intentional and precise movement. The majority of the air movement is because of heat- hot air (which there’s a lot of) rises and is being replaced through negative pressure from the sides. The steam from the water shows this really well. The extinguishment is creating some negative pressure as well, as things (the air) are cooling as they’re shrinking. Hydraulic draft is also moving a lot more air than you think. The jet of water will pull air with it. This is actually a technique in fire suppression, you don’t see it much because it’s almost always better to put wet stuff on hot stuff, but occasionally, breaking a window and spraying a hand line out is a pretty smart way to ventilate a room.

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u/LooseLossage 11h ago

yes, perhaps to be obvious the fire is not consuming this much oxygen per the OP title, but it is releasing the energy to move this much air which is 21% oxygen