1550s, from Middle French cube (13c.) and directly from Latin cubus, from Greek kybos a cube, a six-sided die, vertebra, perhaps from PIE root *keu(b)- to bend, turn..
The triangle illustrates the three elements a fire needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing agent (usually oxygen). A fire naturally occurs when the elements are present and combined in the right mixture, meaning that fire is actually an event rather than a thing. A fire can be prevented or extinguished by removing any one of the elements in the fire triangle. For example, covering a fire with a fire blanket removes the oxygen part of the triangle and can extinguish a fire.
Since four elements must be present for the combustion process to occur (fuel, heat, an oxidizing agent, and a chemical chain reaction), a fire can be extinguished by removing any one of these four elements.