Into the Fire Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fire-bellied toads

Fire-bellied toads are brown or green, but have a bright orange belly. When they feel threatened, they lift their legs to display the bright belly. Its color is a sign to predators that there is a nasty taste ahead, not a pleasant meal. This kind of coloring that deters predators is called aposematic coloration.

Fire-bellied toads are often kept as pets, and can live in a vivarium for over ten years, with reported cases of survival to thirty years. They should never be kept with other species in the same tank, because they have glands on the back of their heads which secrete toxins. In fact, these toxins can even affect the toads themselves if their water isn't changed regularly to remove the accumulation.

Answer: Candle

A Roman candle is a type of firework that looks, you won't be surprised to hear, like a candle. When lit, it sends pyrotechnic stars into the air, where they subsequently explode in a colorful display. A candle snuffer is used to extinguish candles. Technically, a snuffer is a device with scissor blades that is used to clip the wick, and could be used for that purpose even without putting out the flame.

However, the term is often used to refer to an extinguisher, the long-handled device with a small cup-shaped end, which is placed over the flame to put it out.

Answer: Michael Jackson

Horrified observers saw the back of Jackson's hair catch fire when the fireworks went off too early. He appeared unaware of the fact, and kept dancing down the stairs as planned, until onlookers managed to smother the flames. It is alleged that the third-degree burns he suffered, and the chronic headaches they induced, caused an addiction to painkillers that eventually led to his demise.

Answer: Paraffin oil

Perhaps the most familiar firebreather is Gene Simmons, who demonstrates the art during KISS concerts, but there are many others operating at all levels of entertainment. This is a skill that should not be self-taught!
It is important to select a suitable fuel to take into the mouth and expel to produce the flame. One important consideration is the fuel's flash point - the temperature at which it combusts in air. If this is too low (kerosene, for example), there is a serious risk that the flame will occur too close to the performer, resulting in facial (or internal) burns.
Another consideration is the toxicity of the fuel - long-term use of many hydrocarbons can lead to organ damage through the slow absorption of the chemical. Methanol, which is easily absorbed and quite toxic, is clearly dangerous on this criterion. Ethanol's risk is somewhat different - absorption into the bloodstream can lead to intoxication, and that would not be a great idea for someone planning to engage in the intricate act of firebreathing!
Paraffin oil, the highly refined hydrocarbon used in oil lamps, has a relatively high flashpoint and a relatively low toxicity, making it the fuel of choice for many.

Answer: Chain reaction

Since burning is the reaction of a fuel, or flammable material, the term used in the diagram, with oxygen, those two are important elements. The fuel must be at a temperature high enough for combustion to occur, so heat is also necessary to start the fire.

The fire itself is a chain reaction, as the heat produced when some molecules of the fuel burn provides the heat to ignite further molecules.

Answer: Beeswax

Traditional candles are made from any of a variety of materials, including beeswax, tallow, and (most common for commercial candles) paraffin wax. This is formed into a solid surrounding a wick, either by dipping the wick into molten wax or by using a mold.

The wick is made of a porous material such as cotton. Its role is to draw melted wax up to the flame, where it can be vaporised by the flame's heat, and then burn. The wick itself does not burn (at least, not rapidly), it simply provides the site for burning.

Answer: Hawaii

Since the Hawaiian islands are volcanic in origin, and still have a number of active volcanoes, it is not surprising that the inhabitants developed special words to describe the various types of flow that they observed. Pahoehoe is a low-viscosity lava that flows with a smooth or billowing surface, often forming lava tubes. 'A'a is more viscous, and carries spiny-surfaced broken blocks of solidified lava called clinkers, giving it a rough surface texture.

The third major class of lava flow is called block lava.

It is similar to 'a'a, but moves more slowly and carries smooth-surfaced blocks of lava instead of clinkers.

Answer: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

The triangular shape of the building, located in the Greenwich Village part of Manhattan, was the source of the name of the company, located on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors. Like many other garment factories, it employed mostly women, largely recent immigrants with limited English. They followed the common practice of locking the exit doors to prevent unauthorised breaks and surreptitious pilferage. This meant that there was no escape for many when the fire broke out except to jump out of the windows. The fire caused the death of 123 women and 23 men, either from the fire itself or from the deadly jump made to escape the flames.

This tragedy led to improved safety legislation for factories, and to increased support for the developing ILGWU (International Ladies' Garment Workers Union). The building, now part of New York University, is a National Historic Landmark. The Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, formed to commemorate the 2011 centenary of the fire, is working to establish a permanent art memorial at the site.

Answer: Red

The Pokemon card game, based on the video games, was started with seven basic types, each associated with its own color. Fire is red, Water is blue, Grass is green, and Fighting is orange or brown. The other types are Lightning (yellow), Psychic (purple) and Colorless (white). Later expansions have added more types, and a few include dual-type characters.

These types are also associated with the energy cards used to power attacks.

Answer: New Zealand

These myths come from the Ngati Awa, a Maori tribe from the North Island of New Zealand. Mahuika, a female fire deity, is the wife of Auahituroa, the god of comets, the son of the sun god Tama-nui-te-ra, and the one who brought fire to earth. Their five sons, known collectively as the Fire Children, are named after the five fingers: Takonui (thumb), Takoroa (forefinger), Mapere (middle finger), Manawa (ring finger) and Toiti (little finger). Other nearby tribes use slightly different names, corresponding still to their own words for the fingers.

The relationship between fire and fingers may seem obscure, but it is related to the story of how Maui tricked Mahuika into giving him her fingernails, which became the means by which humans could create fire for themselves.

Answer: Fire and Ice

The text of Frost's poem is:
"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice."

It has been speculated that Frost may have found the inspiration for this poem from a scene in Dante's 'The Divine Comedy' in which traitors are shown in a lake of ice, with only their heads protruding to be exposed to the surrounding fire. One piece of evidence put forward for this is Frost's use of an unusual rhyme scheme that almost fits the terza rima form invented by Dante for his masterpiece. Terza rima is a form in which lines are grouped in three, with the rhyme scheme ABA-BCB-CDC etc., finishing with either a single line or a couplet using the rhyme of the central line of the final triplet. Frost's scheme is ABA-ABC-BCB.

The astronomer Harlow Shapley also claimed to have been at least a partial inspiration. In 1960 he recalled having had a conversation with the poet, about a year before the poem was first published (in the December 20 edition of Harper's Magazine), in which they discussed the end of the world from an astronomical perspective, and he described the alternatives of incineration by an exploding sun or a lingering loss of heat from a cooling sun.

Answer: Gone With the Wind

All four of these classic films were released in 1939, but only 'Gone With the Wind' was set in the US Civil War. Scarlett had to stay in Atlanta despite the approach of the Union army, in order to assist Melanie in childbirth, because she had promised Ashley she would look after his wife. Since medical aid to the injured soldiers was far more pressing, no doctor could come to assist, so she was on her own, assisted only by the young slave Prissy.

As soon as the baby was delivered, she sought assistance from Rhett Butler to help them all escape the danger and get home to Tara.

Their dramatic flight from the burning city of Atlanta and arrival at Tara is the climax of the first part of the film.

Answer: Igor Stravinsky

This ballet, based on a Russian folk tale about a magical bird whose favors often carry a curse with them, established Stravinsky's reputation as an up-and-coming young (at 28) composer. It was the first of many ballets he wrote for Sergei Diaghilev's company, including 'Petrushka' and 'The Rite of Spring'.

The incorrect options are also famous Russian composers. Diaghilev produced Mussorgsky's opera 'Boris Godunov' in Paris in 1908, and a ballet set to Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Scheherazade' in 1908. Tchaikovsky is perhaps most famous for 'The Nutcracker' and 'Swan Lake', both staples of many ballet companies.

Answer: Oil wells

Red Adair, whose feats were the inspiration for the 1968 John Wayne movie 'Hellfighters', was renowned for his innovative and daring approach to these dangerous fires. He first gained attention outside of those within his field in 1962, when he and his team extinguished an oil fire in Algeria that was shooting flames nearly 150m into the air, and had been burning for nearly six months. He was still going strong in 1991, at the age of 75, when he helped put out the Kuwait oil well fires caused by the Gulf War.

Answer: Girolamo Savonarola

Savonarola took the opportunity provided by the French invasion of Italy to encourage Florentines to remove the Medicis from power, and establish a republic that would strive for the restoration of Christian ideals. He was clearly an eloquent and persuasive speaker and writer, and gained a large popular following.

The Bonfire of the Vanities (not the first of its kind, but possibly the most infamous) that they lit during the 1497 Mardi Gras festival was fed by a range of items considered as potential occasions for sin, including cosmetics, playing cards and musical instruments, as well as secular works of art, and (what most people think of first) books.

Answer: Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla didn't originally plan to call their browser Firefox - it started as Phoenix, before becoming Firebird and finally Firefox, following trademark issues. Although the name refers to the red panda, the company's logo uses a stylised fox, which was felt to have a better visual appeal (and, frankly, to be more familiar to most users than the relatively obscure animal).

The red panda, Ailurus fulgens, is more closely related to the raccoon and weasel families than to the giant panda, despite the similarity of their names.

Answer: Vancouver

All four of these cities have hosted Winter Olympics, but the XXI Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver (and the nearby mountain resort of Whistler). The opening ceremony was supposed to have four athletes (Steve Nash, Nancy Greene, Wayne Gretzky and Catriona Le May Doan) each light one of the four arms, but Le May Doan missed out when her arm suffered mechanical failure.

She was then given a new opportunity, relighting the indoor cauldron as part of the closing ceremony. The outdoor cauldron, shown in the photo, was lit by Gretzky as part of the opening ceremony, and was the flame that stayed lit for the duration of the Games.

Answer: Firefly

The Serenity was shaped something like a firefly, being a Firefly-class spaceship. The show is set in a star system that has been settled by Earth emigrants, but which is still pretty wild and woolly, reminiscent of the US's Old West. The emphasis is on character, rather than galactic special-effects battles, and the show won a devoted following.

After its cancellation, the full series was released on DVD, and a 2005 film showing later events also found a large home audience, despite only faring moderately well in cinemas.

Answer: Bowser

Bowser, a leader of the Koopas, who resemble turtles, is one of the main antagonists in Mario's world. It is not clear why a turtle breathes fire, but there it is. As well as the shell one would expect, he features red hair, horns, and vicious teeth. It's a fantasy, after all. Bowser's main goals in life are to win Princess Peach, and to capture the Mushroom Kingdom.

If you are wondering about the relevance of the image, one name for the object it shows is a petrol bowser.

Answer: Flambé

'Flambé' is the past tense of the verb 'flamber', and means flamed. 'Chauffé' means heated, 'brulée' means burnt (as a culinary term, usually referring to the process of caramalizing sugar), and 'au feu' translates literally as 'to the fire'. The phrase 'pot au feu' means a type of stew.

A dish served flambé is usually drenched with a liqueur or spirit immediately before serving. The dish is then lit, producing a dramatic flame which burns off the alcohol, leaving behind the flavor of the other ingredients. At least, that is the theory - some claim that there is no actual change in taste, and it is all just an interesting visual display. Nevertheless, Crepes Suzette, Cherries Jubilee and Bananas Foster remain popular with many diners.