Fire

This essential earth element can bring us both life and death in the same breath. We often use it to cook in our kitchens, heat our homes, power our vehicles, and even provide light in order to see in the dead of night. Many folks fear this fierce force of nature, while others are fascinated by the fleeting flames. Get ready to stop, drop, and roll as we find out all about fire on this week’s episode of FYI!

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this essential Earth element can bring us both life and death in the same breath we often use it to cook in our kitchens heat our homes power our vehicles and even provide light in order to see in the dead of night many folks fear this Fierce force of nature While others are fascinated by the fleeting FL Flames get ready to stop drop and roll as we find out all about fire on this week's episode of FYI welcome to for your info English you got it you got it hello hello hello and welcome to this another exciting edition of FYI for your English the show where we teach you about a topic and so much more a show specifically for Curious English students and just remember if you haven't heard a topic you'd like to hear about just let me know I'm really easy to find on on social media or you can just go to my website Alberto Alonso docomo my YouTube channel and most importantly my Curious Community the Curious community of students who make this possible week after week the students who are making progress by Leaps and Bounds and you know who you are so I'd like to start out by sending a shout out to all my students especially my super duper students Marta Javier Paco Roberto and Mila and don't forget about my Interstellar students Garmin Lena Issa Paco David Jose Maria Patricio and Edgar and if you're paying attention you'll notice that the number of interstellar students has gone up what does this mean it means that after 3 years students are not just signed up aunos but they're even more motivated even more driven than before this is great news to me as a teacher and it's wonderful to see all my students so driven many of you have started out in Our Star level which is just €3 a month some have started in our Superstar level which is just €1 a month and many who have started in our super duper level have moved on to our Interstellar level what does that mean that means that aside from getting a weekly review class with me they also get a monthly private class along with tons of other benefits if you're thinking about becoming a patron go over there to patreon.com Alberto Alonso where our community continues to grow day after day and now there's a function where you can join for free you won't have access to all the posts but you'll know about them you'll get an email telling you hey Alberto has just posted something in his community so I don't know what you're waiting for if you're motivated and you want to be even more motivated by not just me your teacher but by tons of other students just like you will then join us it's patreon.com Alberto Alonso and even in our lowest level the Star level you'll get access to the bonus episode every week where I look at tons of idiomatic expressions and the practicality behind each topic plus tons of fun facts to keep you on the edge of your seat do you know that expression it means to keep you eager to keep you wanting more are you ready are you satisfied are you hanging on the edge of your seat Freddy Mercury taught us that idiomatic expression and if you haven't heard the episode on Freddy Mercury you are missing out anyway let's talk about today's topic fire as always the intro is chalk full of vocabulary expressions and things like that let's take a look I started out by saying this essential Earth element can bring us both life and death in the same breath I want to take a look at a couple words there the word death is a noun l dead is an adjective and to die is the verb I know what you're thinking this is easy Alberto well you'll be surprised how many students make mistakes with these three and if you didn't know that yet it's because you haven't listened to our episode on death I know I know you're dying to listen to it okay then I said we often use it to cook in our k kitchens to heat our homes here's another one that people make mistakes with Heat versus hot heat is a noun and a verb examples could you please turn on the heat I can't take this heat as a verb in the winter we have to heat the house and the word hot is an adjective so if you turn up the heat you will be hot oh and you don't know how many times I've told people in Spanish oh oh yeah when I really meant to say well in English you say I'm hot if you want to say you would say I'm horny horny Hy horny tonight so horny all right all right Focus Alberto oh in the first sentence there was another word I wanted to look at breath and breathe breath is the noun breathe is the verb I know it's something we've looked at a lot of times in our classes but it's worth looking at because it's one of those common mistakes we also use it to power our vehicles let's pronounce that word together the H is silent vehicles and they even provide light in order to see in the dead of night that's another way of saying the middle of the night in the middle of the night hey I can't stop singing and we've just gotten started then I said many folks fear this Fierce for force of nature folks is another way of saying people also if we say my folks we're talking about my parents so if I say your folks are nice folks it literally means and we generally say to be afraid of so they fear it or they are afraid of it just pay attention because they are different structures and the word Fierce is wild I think of a storm I think of a lion Fierce and careful with the pronunciation nature remember the t plus the U is nature future creature statue situation that's the hardest one and it's the most commonly said one situation in fact we even shorten it in American English and we say what's the sitch then I said others are fascinated by the fleeting Flames I think that's my record for Fs in a sentence and I didn't use the f word which is f k and the word fleeting is something that doesn't last long the word in Spanish is fuath it's fleeting and a flame is that colorful part that you'll see when there's a fire and we're going to talk a little bit about those colors in a bit then I said get ready to stop drop and roll and this is something they taught all the American kids it was even a campaign an ad campaign on TV and they said if you suspect there's a fire in your house stop drop and roll and if I'm not mistaken they got Webster the famous kid actor from the show Webster to be the spokesperson so that's something that stuck with us stop but drop and roll if you've got flames on you you want to put out the Flames there's our first phrasal verb that has to do with fire put out the flame put out the fire if it's your birthday we blow out the candles and also a blowout is a big party we're going to have a blowout for your birthday but you have to blow out the candles I love playing with words I always have and I always will and not just in English and Spanish too but I want you to focus on the pronunciation it's not stop or drop it's stop drop and roll so are you ready to find out all about fire well let's define it to start off fire is the rapid oxidation of a material which in this case is the fuel this is the same word in English and Spanish but the pronunciation is different if you're a Metallica fan you'll be familiar with this one give me fuel give me five give me that which I desire it's Fuel and in the bonus part we're going to take a look at a lot of songs and movies that have to do with fire that was just a little teaser and quick question how many songs have I sung so far I'll continue with the definition fire is the rapid oxidation of a material the fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion releasing heat light and various reaction products careful it's not products products you don't know how many times I've heard people say product manager product manager totally different pronunciation in English another one too project no project manager no project manager see totally different pronunciation same word just like that word Fuel and then it goes on to say at a certain point in the combustion reaction called the ignition point Flames are produced The Flame is the visible portion of the fire and they usually consist of car carbon dioxide water vapor oxygen and nitrogen and also a flame is a lover as well oh she was an old flame of mine from high school a girlfriend a lover I'm sure you know it from another song is this burning and eternal flame say my name sunshines through the rain well I guess there's something that we can say if there are so many songs and movies about fire it's obviously something that fascinates the masses and that's why we decided to take a look at it today another thing about fire is that it's self- sustaining it perpetuates itself by generating more energy than is required for its occurrence so it's like an overabundance of energy and the released heat sustains The Continuous burning and the growth of the fire we all know that fire spreads there's another vocabulary word that has to do with fire and an idiomatic expression to spread like wildfire but we'll take a look at some more idiomatic expressions in the bonus part now how fast does a fire grow under favorable conditions a fire can double in size every 30 seconds and obviously this highlights the importance of evacuating you need to evacuate everybody in an orderly fashion but as quickly as possible this is why when we were in school I'm sure you guys had them here in Spain too we had fire drills I think you say simak and this was just practicing evacuation of all the students in a timely fashion just to give you an idea in about 2 and 1/2 minutes an entire house can be entirely engulfed in flames so if we've ever used this expression now is the time time is of the essence Quan but don't forget fire is also a basic necessity what would we do without fire we couldn't cook our food we couldn't light our homes before electricity we couldn't generate heat or what about propulsion of vehicles it's also used in agriculture for clearing land and it's one of the four classical elements it has been used by humans in rituals since the beginning of time it's also used in forging smelting this is melting different Metals together incineration of waste and even of human remains in cremation and as we all know it can be used as a weapon or a mode of Destruction so I think that summed it up what I said in the intro it can give us life and death in the same breath recently my daughter and my wife and I we went to the local fire department comes once a year to our town and they do like an open house they have like a tent unak carpa and the the fire department comes the police department come and they they show the kids you know all the the information that they need to know which is life-saving information I might add but also they let them try on the gear they let them hold the axe that was the moment where I got a little nervous with my daughter she even got up on the fire Tru and it was great because they had this little model this little mockup of a home and it was made with this plastic where you could see through it and basically they showed the kids what happens if you don't close the door in the room where the fire is they basically showed how by closing the door the fire was contained to that part of the house then they showed them what would happen if they hadn't closed the door and the whole home naturally filled with smoke in a matter of seconds so I thought it was wonderful that they're there raising awareness not just adults need to know this stuff this is stuff everybody body needs to know and the sooner the better and this is that kind of stuff you need to know but you hope you never have to use it like the heick maneuver and all that jazz CPR even something as mundane as changing a tire it's stuff we need to know but hopefully you never have to use it let's take a look at some basic fire hazards because prevention is the best medicine obviously as many of you know our homes are full of fire hazards think about all of the appliances in our kitchen toasters toaster ovens these portable sandwich makers blenders I guess blenders you don't have to worry about that much because they don't get as hot as an oven or something like that but still if there's a faulty wire a blender could cause a fire as well so make sure your appliances are all in good condition make sure the wires are all good and I always recommend unplugging them I mean if you think about how often you use the toaster what what is it like a a fraction of a percent of your lifetime well when you're not using it keep it unplugged and that's another thing you got to be careful with those power strips you don't want to overload them and plug in too many things into the sockets this can cause a fire hazard as well another thing that is Infamous in the world of Fire Starting are these little space heaters these are these little portable heaters that get really really hot countless fires have been started by these little convenient killers and that's the problem once you realize there's a fire it's usually too late so take all the necessary precautions don't just turn off those little portable heaters unplug them look at it as an extra safety step also air conditioners and exhaust fans you can even start a fire with your exhaust fan in your kitchen if there's too much grease on it and one of the most dangerous kinds of Fire is a grease fire so that's another thing keep your kitchen clean keep your appliances in good working order many people have grills as well outdoor and indoor grills which get very hot and can cause a fire as well and I'm paranoid I make sure I take the lint out every time I use it because if the lint starts to build up it could start a fire also if you have a chimney in your house it's one of the most amazing things you can have but it's also one of the most d dangerous every season we hear stories of people dying because of their chimneys and maybe it's not because of a fire maybe it's because of the smoke inhalation which usually gets you before the fire it's like the firefighter said he said don't believe those movies you see the people walking through the smoke for 10 minutes holding their breath he says it doesn't work like that he says it hits you quickly and you're done you can't do anything so don't try and be a hero or anything like that because cuz most people don't get burned they die of smoke inhalation also you've got hair dryers lawn mowers flamable liquids something that always makes me nervous here is the butane elbano I can't help looking at it like we have two bombs here on the Terrace also you get these dust or debris fires usually if you have a lot of chemicals Al together maybe some greasy Rags you know the kind of stuff you would have in a garage or a workshop that can cause a fire as well and obviously an open flame such as a candle yeah they're beautiful but they are deadly and smoking is never a good thing so you shouldn't smoke anyway and I never understood these people who smoked in bed I mean you're playing with fire hey I couldn't have said that better myself so I already gave you some tips but let me give you some other tips obviously never leave Flames unattended use surge protectors or power strips that have surge protectors if you have a boiler or a furnace which many people have in the United States get them checked frequently get rid of debris you don't want to keep a lot of paper or anything that you need to get rid of get rid of it it's also good to check the fuse box from time to time I remember we were in alia and my wife and I said wait something smells like it's burning and we started to look around and we realized that there there was a fire that was starting behind the wall all the wires had melted together it was a faulty installation the guy told us the guy who came to fix it said you couldn't have installed this worse and it was something we I mean we would have it would have been too late if we hadn't smelt it so it's good to check your electrical sockets your fuse boxes all the electrical appliances at home we already said don't smoke at home or anywhere for that matter another thing is is keep flammable items away from the heat so if you have bleach or ammonia or something like that don't keep it in the sun keep it in a cabinet under the sink where it's in the shade and it never gets too hot another one which I think is pretty much common sense is use flashlights in the dark not candles or night lights I love nightlights cuz you put it in the hallway and this way if you need to get up to go to the bathroom you can do that without stubbing your toe ouch that's the worst but also now our smartphones all have flashlights built into them I believe the British call it a torch for American people a torch is the one with fire and a flashlight is the one you put batteries in well it's always good to have a flashlight on hand and luckily we do now in our phones let's take a quick look at firefighters you can call them firemen fir women or something that works for everybody firefighters now firefighters have always been considered considered Heroes but after September 11th I know it changed the perception completely of what a firefighter was yeah they're always saving people and helping people but that was a turning point I'll never forget it you see people running out of the building running for their lives and what are the firefighters doing they're going in they're going in to see if they can rescue people so your instinct is to run away and these guys they look death in the face and they have to go in there and do their best for their brother their sister is there a job that's more honorable than that you literally put your life In Harm's Way in Jeopardy to save others it's beautiful they're nothing short of Heroes and let's be honest fire trucks are cool too with their ladders and their hoses they've got the axes on the side if you've ever been to New York you'll see we have got some serious fire trucks I mean they look like military vehicles well think about it think about how high those skyscrapers are if you have a fire on the 50th floor you've got to have a big powerful truck and I know a lot of people from Spain when they go to the United States especially New York and they see the size of our fire trucks they are blown away and these people don't just put out fires they know how to save your life they're First Responders their first job is to rescue people their second job is to put out that fire and to try and confine it a little fun fact about firefighting firefighting was once an Olympic sport during the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris both professional and volunteer firefighters participated in firefighting competitions that sounds like fun I wonder why they got rid of that now we're going to take a look at some statistics that come from the National Fire Protection Association and these are statistics that deal with the United States they estimate that in the US a fire department responds to a fire every 21 seconds one home structure fire was reported every 88 seconds one home fire related injury occurs every 53 minutes and one home fire related death occurs every 3 hours and 14 minutes and we're just talking about Home Fires here in the bonus part we're going to take a look at the other kinds of fires we'll look at fire and pop culture and tons of cool fire Expressions oh and don't forget about fun facts I'll leave you with this statistic but I sure hope you'll join us in the bonus episode as I said for as little as €3 a month you can have access to that content and even more importantly be a part of an amazing group of students in the year 2022 1, 154,000 500 fires resulted in 3,790 civilian deaths and 13,250 injuries in addition there were 96 on duty firefighter deaths so what does all this mean this means we've come a long way but fire will continue to be fierce but thanks to the efforts of firefighters and educating our youth we are learning to prevent it because as I said before prevention is the best medicine I sure hope you guys will join us in the bonus episode of FYI