Airport Fire and Rescue Operations – Aircraft, Map, and Firefighting Techniques Practice Test

Metals have ignition temperatures in air—the heat at which they will start burning on their own, not just melt. Magnesium is known to ignite in air at about 1,200°F, so when it reaches roughly that temperature it can catch fire and burn vigorously with a bright, intense flame. That combination of relatively accessible ignition temperature and very hot, ongoing combustion is why magnesium fires are particularly hazardous and require special extinguishing methods.

Aluminum, while it melts around 1,200°F, doesn’t ignite at that temperature under normal conditions—melting and ignition are different phenomena. Titanium needs much higher heat to start burning, well above this range, and copper’s melting point is near 1,900°F, with ignition not typically occurring at that temperature. So the metal that matches ignition near 1,202°F is magnesium, which is why it’s called out in this context. For firefighting, use metal-fire extinguishing media (dry powder/Class D) rather than water, which can react and worsen a magnesium fire.