Is it really possible to fight fire with fire?

Key Insights

Chances are, your encounters with the phrase 'fight fire with fire' are probably more related to Metallica’s opening track from their 1984 album 'Ride the Lightning' than any actual flames. Or when your friend hears about your messy breakup and says, 'Girl, fight fire with fire,' it’s probably not a suggestion to grab a flamethrower. And that halftime speech? Don’t take it too literally—your coach isn’t really recommending a napalm strike against the home team.

The phrase dates back to at least 1597, when William Shakespeare wrote, "Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire; Threaten the threatener and outface the brow of bragging horror" in his play 'The Life and Death of King John' [source: Martin]. In essence, it means to match aggression with aggression. Meet violence with violence. Take an eye for an eye. If he puts one of yours in the hospital, you put one of his in the morgue. You know—the Chicago way.

Beyond metaphors, Sean Connery, and heavy metal, this phrase takes on real-world meaning in the context of forest fire management. When a massive wildfire threatens to consume the land, your first instinct might not be to add more fire. But think about it: A fire needs oxygen and fuel—like leaves and vegetation—to keep burning. By removing either of those, you stop the chain reaction that fuels the blaze.

When dealing with an oil-well fire, firefighters sometimes remove oxygen from the equation by using dynamite. The explosion consumes the surrounding oxygen, leaving none for the fire to sustain itself. But when a whole forest is ablaze, a different method is required. Firefighters get rid of the fuel—what better way to do this than to set the underbrush alight in a controlled burn?

Proceed to the next page. It will all become clear soon.

Controlled Burns and Backfiring

When considering a fire's insatiable appetite and spread, it's tempting to view it as a living organism—similar to a rat infestation. Just as cities like London fight rodent populations by promoting anti-litter campaigns, you can help prevent a fire's spread by removing its food source. Don't want rats in your home? Then don’t provide a feast of fast-food trash on the streets.

Similarly, to curb the spread of forest fires, you can minimize available fuel around your property. This often means clearing away vegetation that could serve as kindling. On a larger scale, such as with farms or forests, conducting a controlled burn is often a wise approach. In this method, wildlife managers intentionally set fire to an area under strict conditions to burn off potential fuel. This creates a manmade firebreak, a barrier to prevent the fire from advancing further.

While controlled burns are usually safe, they can still make nearby homeowners uneasy, especially if they live in fire-prone areas. These fires don’t always go as planned, as seen in 2000 when a fire set by the National Park Service inadvertently destroyed 200 homes near Los Alamos, N.M. [source: Egan].

Don’t worry too much about the charred vegetation. Grass and forest fires are natural events. In a world without humans, they would still happen due to lightning, falling rocks, volcanic activity, and the spontaneous combustion of organic materials. While a fire may disrupt local human communities, it’s simply part of the ecological cycle.

Some plant species actually rely on fire as part of their reproductive process, while others have adapted over time to withstand frequent wildfires. For instance, Sequoia seeds stay dormant until fire weakens the seeds' protective outer shell [source: Science Daily]. Thus, a well-timed controlled burn can benefit the ecosystem by promoting the growth of local vegetation.

Backfiring is another form of controlled burn, though to extend the rodent analogy, it's more like 'The rats are coming! Hide all the food!' In this tactic, firefighters try to stop or redirect a wildfire by burning fuel in its path. Various fire-starting tools assist them in this effort, including forest fire torches, fusses (similar to road flares), propane torches, and drip torches.