What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

I'm talking by weight.

Say you have a helicopter with a maximum weight lifting capacity, with which you can dump sand, water, or dirt at a big fire. What's better for putting it out?

Is there a natural mineral that's even better?

Re: What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

it really depends on the type of fire.

For instance if you have a grease fire, they tell you not to use water to put it out. You either try to smother it with a lid, or use dry chemical fire extinguisher or baking soda

Re: What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

I'm not talking about domestic fires, but large ones. So the burning material would be mostly wood, perhaps fabric etc.

Re: What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

is this an urgent question?

Re: What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

fireproof feathers

Re: What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

[ QUOTE ]
is this an urgent question?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, just curious

Re: What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

Water. I'll let others elaborate.

Re: What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

specific heat? or whatever the C in Q=MC deltaT is?

Re: What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

[ QUOTE ]
Water. I'll let others elaborate.

[/ QUOTE ]

I.E. He just wanted to state something, but otherwise he doesn't know, or is too lazy to tell you why.

I hate the phrases do you see why, and I'll let others elaborate. If you have the answer give it to us.

Re: What\'s best for putting out fires: water, sand, dirt??
 

to be more specific doesnt water have really high C like 4 j/gK or something and silica's (thats sand isnt it?) is really low maybe even worse than air. But i guess this doesnt take into account the ability of the substance to smother the fire but i would assume that water would be better at that too.