St Mary’s School Learn about the Fire Triangle

During a recent visit to St Mary’s, Firefighter Soussi delivered an engaging fire safety lesson, introducing pupils to the Fire Triangle through visual learning, live demonstrations and interactive participation.

The Fire Triangle explains the three essential elements needed for a fire to burn: heat, fuel and oxygen. Through practical demonstrations, pupils learned how removing just one of these elements can extinguish a fire. They explored the three methods of extinguishing fire: cooling (removing heat), smothering (removing oxygen) and starving (removing fuel).

By observing fires of different sizes, pupils were able to see first-hand how a small flame can grow and become increasingly dangerous if left uncontrolled. The demonstrations helped bring the theory to life, encouraging pupils to observe, ask questions and develop a better understanding of how fire behaves.

Fire was also compared to a living, breathing thing: it needs oxygen to breathe, fuel to grow and heat to sustain itself. This simple comparison helped pupils understand why fire must always be treated with care and respect

The session highlighted the importance of learning through experience, allowing pupils to connect scientific concepts with real-life situations. By combining explanation with practical demonstrations and active involvement, the lesson provided pupils and teachers with valuable knowledge about fire prevention, fire behaviour and everyday fire safety.

The visit forms part of the ongoing effort to promote fire safety awareness and help young people develop the knowledge and confidence to recognise potential dangers and make safer decisions.