What is another term for steady state fire?

Steady state fire refers to a phase of combustion where the fire has reached a stable level of energy output and has a consistent burn rate, maintaining a balance between the heat produced and the heat lost. In this context, the term "free burning" captures the essence of steady state fire.

When a fire is in a free burning phase, it indicates that there is sufficient fuel, oxygen, and heat for the fire to sustain itself without significant fluctuations. This allows the fire to establish a consistent pattern of behavior, making it easier to understand its characteristics and predict its development.

Comparatively, controlled burns, flashovers, and backdrafts are critical fire-related phenomena, but they denote different concepts. A controlled burn refers to an intentional fire set for management purposes, while flashover describes a rapid transition to full room involvement due to a temperature increase, and backdraft refers to an explosive event that occurs when a fire is starved of oxygen and suddenly introduced to it. These are distinct from the continuous, stable state that defines a free burning phase.