Book excerpt: Based on the National Fire Academy’s Fire Behavior and Combustion model curriculum. Without a comprehensive grasp of how fires start and spread, informed decisions on how to best control and extinguish fires can not be made. Principles of Fire Behavior and Combustion, Fourth Edition will provide readers with a thorough understanding of the chemical and physical properties of flammable materials and fire, the combustion process, and the latest in suppression and extinguishment. The Fourth Edition of this time-tested resource is the most current and accurate source of fire behavior information available to fire science students and on-the-job fire fighters today.