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Fire is neither energy nor matter. It is a phenomenon that can result from the process of combustion. The appearance of fire is produced by emissions of light from the excited electrons of hot gases. The light and heat are energy while the gases are particles of matter which hold and release that energy.
Although moths and other animals are attracted to fire, only humans know how to use it. Much of our civilization has developed from our application of fire to transform things: we boil water, cook food, bake clay, melt iron, burn wood into charcoal, etc.
Since about 100 years ago, we have been able produce light without fire. We have tamed electricity and no longer need to use hot gases. Light bulbs shine with the emissions from the excited electrons of either a metal filament or cool fluorescent gases. The screen display of your computer is composed of tiny pixels, each of which glows with a "cool fire" derived from electric power.
Contemplate the transformational nature of fire. Although it is transient, fire can have an effect that endures long after the source of the flame has died out. An insight can "spark" our creativity, and a thought or feeling can spread rapidly like fire by "igniting" each person who is touched by it.
The vitality of living beings has been described as "internal fire" because the mitochondria in our cells "burn" nutrients in the presence of oxygen (metabolism). The bodies of warm-blooded creatures become cool after the flame of life dies out. No flame is eternal, but the phenomenon of fire reappears again and again wherever and whenever the conditions are right for it.
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