Edit: Thanks for the awards! First time i’ve ever received any at all!
In: Chemistry
Not an igloo expert, but am firefighter trainee.
Fire science is… wild. The stuff you learn in high school chemistry doesn’t hold a candle(eyyy) to the real thing.
Heat wants to rise and so does fire. You know how they always say close doors and windows to contain a structure fire, and how modern buildings have actual fire doors? Basically what this does is contain a fire until help arrives. It’s not going to put it out.
What firefighters do in a fully involved fire is the exact opposite. They vent the roof directly above the hottest part of the blaze. This causes both smoke and heat to escape vertically so that a fire attack team can enter from the side and extinguish the fire without being melted. Turnout gear and water vapor alone have their limits.
In addition, water doesn’t magically extinguish fire, as you can see from oil fires burning on water. Water only cools the fire’s fuel below its ignition point and thus puts it out.
So I’d imagine with the igloo scenario, enough heat escapes vertically that the interior is warmed without melting the ice, and the cooling effect of the outside air on the ice keeps it in a solid state. I’m sure many igloos have melted from too much fire and too small a chimney.
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