five-alarm fire

five-alarm fire

1. A fire that is so large or intense that it requires the presence of many firefighting units to try to contain it. A five-alarm fire is the reason we heard all of those sirens last night2. Someone or something that is very intense or stressful. Boy, this project has really become a five-alarm fire with all the other problems it's created.See also: fire

a five-alarm fire

verbSee a three-alarm fireSee also: fire