If you watch tv or movies, expecially sci-fi related, you have no doubt seen explosions happening all the time in space.
This has always made me wonder, can fire really exist in space, as there is no oxygen in space?
I have wondered this but never took the time to find out the answer. Well tonight I decided to look it up. A simple Google search for ‘can fire exist in space’ gave me the answer in the 3rd result.
http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/index.html?quid=909
The link goes to Cornell’s Center for Materials Research, Ask a Scientist, page.
Simply, the answer is No…. and Yes 
I will give you the quick run down and if you want the more geeky details then follow the link above.
At the basic levl, no fire can not exist in space, since like you would think, there is no oxygen.
The yes part comes from the fact that rockets, for say, mix liquid oxygen with the fuel, and therefore there is oxygen present to allow the fire to burn.
So that is rockets, but what about explosions?
This one is a little more complicated and doesn’t have a solid answer.
The oxygen that is needed to allow fire to burn does not have to come from a liquid or a gas, or even as plain oxygen. If there is a chemical present that contains oxygen, and there is enough heat to break the oxygen out of that chemical, then it can mix in and allow the fire to burn.
So it is both yes and no.
IF in the “explosion” there exists the proper chemicals, and there is enough heat, then yes an explosion (with fire) can happen in space. If those circumstances are not met then the “explosion” with be fireless.
(I say “explosion” because you can’t really call it an explosion without fire, can you? )
So there you have it (if you are still reading).