Fire testing in the United States has been performed since the early 1900's. The first fire tests performed were originally similar to the ASTM E119 test method, which is still required today. However, besides the natural evolution of this test method, other test methods have been developed and adopted nationally. These newer fire test methods such as the ASTM E 1529 and UL1709 are representative of more severe fire environments such as would be found in a petroleum spill fire. In these test methods, the control of the furnace is based on heat flux, while the ASTM E119 is established by a fixed time temperature curve. Keywords: ASTM, El19, E1529, UL1709, fire, flammability, testing, E814, E152, petroleum spill, hydrocarbon pool, API, small scale, heat flux