House Fire Temperature: How Hot Does It Get? - SConFIRE

As you probably already know, the temperature inside a house fire will be different at different points of the house based on the way heat travels and the materials that are burning.

The most important thing to remember is that heat rises, so the hottest point of the room in a house fire will be around the ceiling. At the ceiling, the temperature can reach as high as 1500°F, which is enough to do serious damage through burns to your skin and lungs.

The safest way to travel through a burning room is to get as close to the floor as possible.

Temperatures around the floor can be around 100°F, which is certainly enough to make you uncomfortable if you stay there too long but is easily survivable and will give you the best chance of being able to evacuate.

It’s also worth noting that smoke rises in a house fire too, meaning it will pool around the ceiling where most of the heat is.

Because smoke is so dangerous to people’s lungs during a house fire, it’s also best to get as low as possible to avoid breathing it in. Essentially, the first thing you should do if you’re in a room with a fire is get on the ground and crawl towards the nearest exit.

Wood

Wood is a pretty common material throughout houses. In the modern day, it’s not used so much for building structural integrity, but it still makes up a lot of furniture in a common home.

Wood has a maximum flame temperature of 1800°F, meaning it’s often not the hottest material during a house fire.

Steel

This material is much more commonly used in constructing structural support in a house, largely because of its strength and fire resistance. Steel is not a flammable material and will therefore not provide a source for flames to spread.

The melting point of steel is around 2500°F-2800°F, which is well above the average temperature of a house fire.

You may remember that the maximum temperature of a flashover during a house fire can be up to 3500°F, however this temperature won’t persist for long enough for it to do enough damage to steel structures.

Drywall/plasterboard

These two are some of the most commonly used materials for constructing the walls of a house, that’s why we’ve grouped them together.

According to official home construction regulations, they are considered a combustible material because they are made with a substance called gypsum which is pressed between two sheets of paper.

These paper sheets are what make the material combustible and they will burn in the same way any sheet of paper would, at a maximum of around 1500°F.

The gypsum material itself is not flammable, as it has water incorporated into its structure.

Therefore, the fire has to get through the water by evaporating it, thus slowing down the transfer of heat through the wall. Of course, once the water has evaporated and the gypsum is heated to any great degree, it will also start to burn.

Glass

Pretty much every house in the world has glass windows which can easily be damaged in a house fire.

However, the glass itself can not provide a source for the fire to spread and will simply melt if enough heat is applied to it. The melting point of most household glass windows is 1400°F-1600°F.

This is also around the maximum temperature reached in a house fire so it is common for glass to melt during a fire.

Plastic

There are a number of different types of plastic that can be found around any house, all with different burning and melting points. Almost every type of plastic will melt before it can be ignited, and will melt around 200°F-500°F.

However, even once melted, these plastics can ignite and provide a source for flames to travel across them and to other parts of the house. The ignition point for plastics can be anywhere from 750°F-1100°F.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Hot Is Smoke From A Fire?

The smoke that is produced from a fire is the result of volatile hydrocarbons evaporating from the source material. This smoke vaporizes around a temperature of 300°F. However, if even more heat is applied to these compounds, they can also burst into flame themselves.

How Hot Do Building Fires Get?

During a building fire, heat will rise to the top, making the area around the ceiling the hottest point inside. At the floor, where it’s coolest, temperatures can be around 100°F, which is still fairly hot but definitely survivable.

Meanwhile, the area around the ceiling can be up to 1500°F, which is a seriously dangerous temperature for the building and anyone inside it.

Also, during many building fires, exploding gases create something called a flashover, which is caused by a rapid ignition of gas and can reach temperatures momentarily up to 3500°F.

Final Thoughts

If you were wondering how hot house fires could get, you now know. With the lowest point usually being around 100°F and the highest point during a flashover being as high as 3500°F, there’s a massive amount of range in different parts of a house fire.

If you ever find yourself in the midst of a house fire, always make sure you stay as close to the floor as possible while trying to escape, as this will help you to avoid the dangerously high temperatures overhead.

Similarly, call the fire department as soon as possible. The longer it takes for them to arrive at the scene, the less chance there is of them saving your house.

As we said at the start, we hope nobody reading this ever has to experience something as tragic as a house fire. However, if it happens to you, it’s much better to be prepared than not.