Do fires release carbon dioxide into the atmosfere?

Question

(Or do they just releace carbon monoxide?)

Answer 1

There are four common deadly gases associated with fires in the home. These gases are carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride and carbon dioxide.

· Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that displaces oxygen in the blood. It is the most abundant of all fire gases and is produced by all fires.

· Hydrogen cyanide is also a deadly poison produced by burning wool, silk, nylon and some plastics. Common elements in blankets, upholstered furniture, curtains and clothing.

· Hydrogen chlorideirritates your throat and eyes, increasing your breathing rate and making it difficult to see to escape. The increased breathing rate causes you to inhale all the toxic byproducts of fire faster.

· Carbon dioxide in the air causes you to breathe faster, increasing you intake of the other poisonous gases released by fire.

    Smoke also contains particles of burned fuel that obscure light. The particles decrease visibility and irritate your eyes causing a further decrease in visibility.

Answer 2

in short, yes they do.

Answer 3

CO2 is released but interestingly, if the fire is wood (burning wood fuel as a camp fire or wood stove etc...) the carbon is what the tree removed from the atmosphere and so the net exchange is considered zero.  NOT a cause of global warming.

Answer 4

That depends a lot on what is being burnt and how much oxygen is available for the combustion process.

A forest fire will release carbon dioxide in the oxidation(burning process), because there is no restriction of oxygen supply.

A properly vented gas(natural gas and propane), oil, wood, or coal boiler with plenty of oxygen will also produce mainly carbon dioxide.

When there is a restriction in the supply of oxygen for the fire then not all of the fuel is able to completely burn. This is when carbon monoxide is formed.

Just an interesting side note.

Up until about twenty years ago one of the top ways of committing suicide was to use your gasoline driven car and either run it inside the garage with the doors closed, or to run a flexible hose from the exhaust pipe into the passenger compartment.

Today there is so little carbon monoxide created in modern cars that this doesn't happen now.

You could still die from lack of oxygen but not carbon monoxide poisoning!