How men first used fire is still unknown; however, it is probable that even the most primitive man of centuries ago found fire a great service to him as it is to us today. In early days, men did not cook food. They ate everything raw, including meat and fish. But the discovery of fire changed the way of eating food completely. They cooked food. The prehistoric men soon found that cooked food was more delicious. Fire became an important thing since then.
Moreover, fire gave the early men warmth and light. Even in there scanty clothes men could keep themselves warm in caves on rainy or cold nights. Caves were no longer dark. They could move about freely in the dark night. Besides, fire gave him protection from wild beast. Consequently, life was more secure than it had been. In fact, fire, like water and air, became indispensable to men. Today, we use fire for a variety of purposes. We use it even to operate machinery to produce goods.
However fire has to be kept under strict control. Once it is out of control, it will destroy lives and property at tremendous speed. The world has lost things worth billions of dollars because of fire. It is claimed that thousands of acres of forest was burned for growing crops.
On the other hand, fire has been used by men, especially of the modern age to destroy men. In the past, fire itself was used in the battles to fight against enemy. Even today, thousands of people in many parts of the world are being destroyed by fire. Whenever furious men try to make the best use of the terrible anger of fire, misery is hard to avoid. Innocent people, young and old, must die in thousands. It is, therefore, true to say that, “fire is a good servant, but a bad master”.