Cooperative Personnel Services Firefighter (CPS) Practice Exam

The components of the fire triangle are essential elements required for combustion to occur. The triangle consists of oxygen, fuel, and heat. Each of these components plays a critical role in the fire process:

1. Oxygen supports combustion and is a necessary element for fire to ignite and sustain.

2. Fuel refers to any combustible material that can burn, such as wood, paper, or gasoline.

3. Heat is the energy that raises the material to its ignition temperature, enabling the chemical reaction of combustion to take place.

Water, while commonly associated with fire suppression as it is used to extinguish flames, is not a component of the fire triangle. Instead, water acts as a cooling agent that reduces heat and can displace oxygen in certain situations, ultimately helping to break one of the critical links necessary for fire to continue burning. Thus, identifying water as not part of the fire triangle correctly distinguishes it from the essential elements needed to sustain a fire.