The fire point is the temperature at which a cooking oil will ignite and sustain a flame — the point of no return beyond the smoke point and the flash point. Heated oil first smokes as its components break down (the smoke point), then gives off vapours that flash briefly if a flame passes (the flash point), and finally, hotter still, the vapours ignite and keep burning on their own. For most cooking oils the fire point lies well above 300°C — far beyond any legitimate cooking temperature, which is why chip-pan fires start from thermostats failed or pans forgotten, not from normal frying. The concept belongs to fire safety and to the testing of frying oils: knowing the margin between working temperature and ignition is what keeps commercial fryers insurable. It is the oil’s final warning, written in degrees.