If fire feeds off of oxygen(O), and there is oxygen in water (H2O), how does water extinguish fire?

Question

If fire feeds off of oxygen(O), and there is oxygen in water (H2O), how does water extinguish fire?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The way fire “feeds” off of oxygen is by converting volatile 02 into more stable compounds (usually H20 and C02). In other words, if oxygen is (one part of) fuel, H20 is *spent* fuel.

Now, in a more direct answer to your question: fire needs 3 things to survive: heat, fuel, and oxygen. Dumping water on fire accomplishes both to move heat away quickly, and to starve it of 02 by “drowning” it.