Fight fire with fire? Where does this saying come from?

Question

Why do we say to "fight fire with fire", does it mean literal fire or fire as in gunfire? I can understand the latter but not the former! Apart from that is fighting fire with fire the best way? Or is it better to use water.....?

Answer 1

kinning_park gave you the best answer. If you watch "The Gods Must Be Crazy" movie you will see Xai doing the same thing that kinning_park has just said, fighting fire with fire.

Answer 2

I came across the practice in Australia where they fight fire with fire. They tend to use it in bush fires but I understand the technique is also used around the world.

Essentially, the technique is used when there is an uncontrolled bush fire. Another (controlled) bush fire is started in the path of the uncontrolled bush fire. This controlled bush fire burns the vegetation in the path of the uncontrolled bush fire. As such, the uncontrolled bush fire will have nothing to burn when it reaches the burnt out vegetation. This way the uncontrolled bush fire will die out.

I assume this is where the saying 'fighting fire with fire' stems from.

This is also a technique advised if you are trapped in the path of a uncontrolled bush fire - start another bush fire and remain within the burnt vegetation.

Answer 3

A fire fighting technique was to light a controlled fire in the path of an advancing fire to create a fire break or firewall. the main fire would reach the ashes of the fire break and die out

Answer 4

Where a fire is advancing, say a bush or forest fire, it is sometimes the practice to deliberately set fire, in a controlled way, to vegetation in the path of the oncoming fire, so that when the oncoming fire reached, there is nothing further to burn. Thus 'fighting fire with fire'.

Answer 5

Have you ever heard of a "Voorbrand" ............. when there is a raging veld fire they make a small strip of fire a couple of kilometres from the real fire so when the real fire comes to this spot the voorbrand's fire has allready taken all the fuel (brush, bushes,grasses etc)from the real fire and then the real fire dies because there is no fuel to feed it. Probably easier to use water but in most countries water is a scarce commodity.

Answer 6

A very simple anology is to visualize a forest fire, the surest way to contain and eventually extinguish is to light another fire (controlled) and to burn all the combustible materials before the original fire reaches it. Water will of course extinguish a fire, but you must stop the progress as rapidly as possible and lighting another fire is the fastest way.

Answer 7

fighting fire with fire is literally that. for forest fires, park rangers and firefighters will go ahead of the fire burn some of the area that the fire is supposed to go through so when it gets there there is no fuel for the fire to feed on so it hopefully will starve and die out.

Answer 8

If there's a raging forest fire, the only way to halt it is to burn down a swathe of trees before it reaches them. This creates a break that it can't cross and stops the blaze.

Answer 9

I think you'll find that a good number of atheists have read one or more major religious texts with some interest, or were once Christians themselves; regardless, it is not incumbent upon the atheist to use scripture as an argument, unless the argument is over scriptural content. An atheist rejects the authority of scripture and deities, and compromising that position weakens any argument.

Answer 10

it comes from fighting forest fires.....they used to use a controled fire to starve a larger fire and create a break
so the bigger fire runs out..........fighting fire with fire