The terms backdraft and flashover have been used in the fire service for many years but are still often misunderstood and misused. A backdraft is an explosion following the introduction of oxygen into a compartment filled with accumulated unburned fuel; whereas flashover is a radiation dominated event in which a fire makes the transition from a localised fire to full room involvement. The New Zealand Fire Service has recognised the importance of educating its firefighters to recognise the differences between backdraft and flashover and are using live demonstration of backdraft in a modified shipping container. This is a shortened version of the paper presented at 'South Pacific Fire '96' and permission to publish is gratefully acknowledged.
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