noun
General Slang
backdraft
· noun · firefighter
An explosive reignition when fresh air hits an oxygen-starved, smoke-filled space.
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Definitions
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A smoke explosion. A fire in a sealed space burns down its oxygen and stalls; pent-up unburned fuel gases sit there waiting. Crack a door or break a window and the rush of air re-ignites the lot at once, blowing fire and pressure back through the opening.
“Door felt warm and the smoke was puffing in and out — classic backdraft signs, so we vented from the roof first.”
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backdraft In A Sentence
Door felt warm and the smoke was puffing in and out — classic backdraft signs, so we vented from the roof first.
Origin & Usage
Fire-service term for the deflagration that follows when a ventilation-controlled fire suddenly gets oxygen — open the wrong door, the room explodes outward. Brought into popular vocabulary by the 1991 Ron Howard film of the same name.
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