Vocabulary

fire n.

to start the fire: The fire was started by children playing with matches.

to put out the fire: Forty people helped to put out (= to stop) the fire.

in the fire: The library was badly damaged in the fire.

by fire: How many historic buildings are damaged by fire each year?

to catch (on) fire: She had to be rescued by her neighbours when her house caught fire (= started to burn).

to build / make a fire: We built a fire on the beach.

on fire: If your home was on fire and you could save only one thing, what would it be?

to set smth. on fire: The pile of papers couldn’t catch fire itself; someone must have set it on fire deliberately.

to set fire to smth.: Who set fire to the house?

firefighter n.

brush n. (US) = bushes

brushfire n. (also brush fire): The dry weather has increased the risk of brushfires.

grassfire n.

grassland n.: the grasslands of North America

control n.

to get / go out of control: The car skidded and went out of control, crashing into an oncoming truck.

to be out of / beyond / outside control: There was nothing we could do about it – the situation was out of our control.

to be under control: It seems that the disease is now under control.

to bring / get smth. under control: It took them two hours to bring the fire under control.

to get (no) control over smb. / smth.: She’s got no control over that child – it’s terrible.

to impose control on smb. / smth.: He wants the government to impose strict controls on dog ownership.

to take control of smth.: The dictator took control of the country in 1933.

to lose control of smth.: He felt he was losing control of events.

to stay in control of smth.: You need to stay in control of your emotions.

control v.

blaze n.: Firefighter took three hours to control the blaze.

blaze v.

contain v. (= control): More police were sent to help contain the violence. / She could no longer contain her anger and shouted at him uncontrollably. /It is difficult to contain these problems.

take off phr. v. (= to move): When he saw me, he took off in the other direction.

civilian n., adj.: The army has been criticized for attacking the unarmed civilian population.

Investigation n.

an investigation into smth.: An investigation has been under way for several days into the disappearance of a thirteen-year-old boy.

to be under investigation: Currently, the individuals who might have caused the accident are under investigation.

investigate v.: Police are investigating allegations of corruption involving senior executives.

alert n.

to be on the alert for smth.: The public were warned to be on the alert for suspicious packages.

alert v.

to alert smb. to smth.: An anonymous letter alerted police to the possibility of a terrorist attack at the airport.

to be alerted to smth

cause n.: They are trying to establish the cause of the fire.

Compare cause and reason

cause – smth. which produces a result: The cause of the accident was the fact that he was driving too fast.

reason – smth. which explains or excuses an action: The reason he was driving so fast was that he was late for an important meeting.

cause v.: The difficult driving conditions caused several accidents. / Most heart attacks are caused by blood clots.

restore v.

highway n.

evacuation n.: The evacuation of civilians remains out of the question until the fighting continues.

evacuate v.: A thousand people were evacuated from their homes following the floods. / When toxic fumes began to drift toward our homes, we were told to evacuate.

pinpoint v.: Emergency workers at the site are still unable to pinpoint the cause of the explosion.

Word combinations

within minutes

north (south) of

to jump the road

to travel in different directions

at the scene

for a time

power lines

to keep smb. busy

to prompt an evacuation

Exercises