The fire in San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake was the largest urban fire in history up to that time, only to be __41__ by the fire following the 1923 Tokyo earthquake. The earthquake and __42__ fire caused an estimated3,000 deaths and $524 million in property loss. Fire that ignited in San Francisco soon after the __43__ of the earthquake burned for three days because of the lack of water to control it. Damage in San Francisco was __44__ , with28,000 buildings destroyed, 80 percent of which were __45__ fire rather than ground shaking. Fires also intensified the loss at Fort Bragg and Santa Rosa, California.

There is no denying that advanced firefighting involves not just the direct suppression of a fire but also the general knowledge of the theoretical framework of the process. The latter includes understanding the principles and methodologies behind the management and suppression of fires. To stop a conflagration, one needs to be aware of the concept of the combustion triangle, which presupposes that a conflagration needs three distinct components. Specifically, the latter would be a source of heat, oxygen, and a physical piece of burning material. As soon as the practitioner understands these premises, he or she may use various ways to convert them into methods of further fire suppression. One should note that the behavior of fires is dynamic and includes the ignition, propagation, and combustion phases. Therefore, a firefighter has to learn how to approach each activity since fires may be continuous or smoldering, as well as vary in heat content or speed. Additionally, it is also crucial to understand that the conflagrations may belong to different kinds and have unique properties, based on their sources. They can begin from electrical wires, kitchen frying pans filled with hot oil, or even various chemical substances. Consequently, concerning the verbal categorization of firefighting tactics, firefighters may oscillate between either offensive or defensive measures. The former includes the methods that allow suppressing the flames and materials directly and quickly. At the same time, defensive tactics are performed to put a perimeter around the fire and stop its spread to other objects in the area. Finally, it is also important to mention that ventilatory tactics are critical to adjust the inflow-outflow balance of gases in a building to avoid backdrafts.