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Flash Burn Vs. Fire Burn

Flash Burn vs. Fire Burn

Which one is worst... a Flash Burn or a Fire Burn?

Burn Fire Vs Burn Flash

First I will start by explaining the difference.

The burning temperature for a material is lower them the tempurature at which the material will spontaneously burst into flames. For paper the temperature for a sustained burn is 451 F but the Flash temperature is 662 F. As you can guess the Flash temp is much greater and will cause sever 3 degree burns much faster.

I work in the electrical field and we working about flash arcs. This is caused when a conductor carrying electricity is able to come in contact with a conductive material at a different voltage. The amount of heat is determined buy how much current can be generated by this flash. A typical home the amount of energy that can be released at the fuse panel if you touch a wire to ground is staggering.

Here is a typical scenario:

SAMPLE with:
KVA Rating = 300
Input Voltage = 208 Vac
Z = 5%(resistance)
Full load current
= 120 Kva *1000/120
= 1000 Amps
Isc = Short Circuit Current
Isc = Full load current/Impedance (Z)
Isc = 1000/.05
Isc = 20,000 Amps

That is like being touched by 1000 electric dryers at the same time.

It is a huge amount of energy and take special clothing to absorb the heat and protect from being burnt.

her is a clip of what a flash can look like.

https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2674646408572574875

Remove the fire ball at the end and that is what you see in a fuse panel when it grounds out.

So There is my take on flash for what it is worth.

Flash Burn Vs. Fire Burn History & Civil Business Politics

Neither one is pleasant but I would take the fire burn anytime over the flash burn. Most flash burns are severe burns. I do not want that. A fire burn you can get from simple fire and maybe be only a 1st or 2nd degree.

Burn Fire Vs Burn Flash

I just thought of something a simple fire burn can be just as bad in the degree but it might be the amount of exposed flesh hit by the flash fire that makes it so much more lethal KNtoran. Location of that burn is a huge factor as well. 10 percent of an arm burnt in 3rd degree bad but live able 10 person of face is much more critical.

Also a simple wood fire if one falls against it will put on a quick 3rd degree burn due to the hot coal bed. After all it can heat metal to the point of being melting.

But the flash point of wood is still much higher then the burning temp of wood so do not get me wrong flash is hottest.