Fire Academy Midterm Practice Test

Ordinary combustibles are materials that burn readily in normal air and leave ash after burning. Wood and paper fit this description perfectly: they ignite easily, sustain a flame, and are classic examples used to illustrate how these fuels behave in everyday fires. Metals don’t burn under typical conditions, and water isn’t a fuel at all. Plastics can burn, but they’re usually considered a different type of fire hazard because of melting behavior and toxic smoke, so they aren’t the standard illustration of ordinary combustibles in basic fire training. That’s why wood and paper are the best examples for this concept.