Fire can help people in many ways. But it can be very dangerous. Fire can heat water, warm houses, give light and cook. But fire can burn things, too. It can burn trees, houses, animals or people. Sometimes big fire can burn forests.
Nobody knows for sure how peole began to use fire. But there are many interesting stories about the first time a man or a woman started a fire. One story from Australia tells about a man very, very long time ago. He went up to the sun by a rope (绳子) and brought fire down.
Today people know how to make a fire with matches (火柴). Children sometimes like to play with them. But matches can be very dangerous. One match can burn a piece of paper, and then it might burn a house. A small fire can become a big fire very fast. Fire kills many people every year. So you must be careful with matches. You should also learn to put fires. Fires need oxygen (氧气). Without oxygen they will die. Cover a fire with water, sand or sometimes with your coat. This keeps the air away from a fire and kills it.

火在很多的方式上给人类予帮助。但是火也是危险的。火可以加热水，温暖房间，带来光亮和烹煮食物。但同时，火也烧毁东西。火可以烧毁树木，房屋，烧死动物，人。有时候火可以烧毁森林。
没有人知道，人类从什么时候开始使用火。但是有很多关于男人或者是女人第一次使用火的有趣故事。有一个澳大利亚的故事，故事说的是，在很久，很久以前，有一个男人，用绳子爬到到太阳上去，从那里取回火。
今天人们如何用火柴取火。孩子们常常用火柴玩火，但是火柴是非常危险的。一根火柴可以烧掉一张纸，它就可以烧毁一幢房子。一个小小的火苗可以很快的变成一场大火，每年夺去了很多人的生命。所以你在用火是要当心。你同时也应该学会灭火。火的燃烧需要氧气，一旦没有氧气，它就会熄灭。用水去泼火，或是沙子，有时候用你的外套，这样就隔离火与空气，火就被灭掉了。