Curious kids: how old is fire on Earth?

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Please can I ask how old is fire on earth, not tamed by people but since when has there been fire and flames on the planet.

Samuel, 5, London

You ask a very interesting question. For many years, scientists assumed that fire and humans were so connected that few of them gave any thought to what happened to fire before humans evolved.

Even now, after many years of research, you won’t find much information in books about ancient fire. Indeed, I first...