General
backdraft
What does backdraft mean?
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."
Origin
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.
Frequently asked questions
What does "backdraft" mean?
It's an explosive reignition that happens when fresh air suddenly hits an oxygen-starved, smoke-filled space.
How do you use "backdraft" in a sentence?
"Open that door wrong and you'll trigger a backdraft that could kill everyone on the crew."
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