Why does fire behave the way it does?

Disclaimer: Not an arson, just light fires in a wood stove! How is it that an entire house will burn down except for a single power bill will not burn on the coffee table. I believe that fire not only operates on heat, oxygen and fuel. But the variables that we see in large forest fires and homes being buried make me curios. I believe that fires have different frequencies that dictate temp and how it speads...outside of wind. I also believe the heat we feel is the frequencies coming off the fire. And our heat receptors pick up on those frequencies that allow us to pull our hand away before true damage occurs.