What is the goal of fire suppression?

The goal of fire suppression is to sharply reduce the heat release rate of a fire. This approach focuses on actively controlling and mitigating the intensity and spread of a fire, thereby limiting damage and protecting lives and property. By reducing the heat release rate, fire suppression systems—such as sprinklers—can help to bring the fire under control more quickly, allowing for safer evacuation of occupants and improving the effectiveness of firefighting efforts.

Preventing all fires from occurring is not feasible, as fires can be accidental, natural, or unavoidable in some circumstances. Maintaining the temperature of structures may be a consideration in fire safety but does not directly address the effectiveness of managing an active fire situation. Controlled burns are typically part of a fire management strategy used in land management rather than a suppression technique aimed at extinguishing ongoing fires.