Take away fuel, take away flame.

A flame goes out when its fuel is removed; figuratively, a dispute, harmful activity, or destructive outburst may fade when the support that sustains it is cut off. The saying directs attention from visible effects to their enabling conditions.

It also expresses a practical rule of prevention or de-escalation: remove resources, encouragement, opportunity, or provocation, and a problem may lose force. It does not imply that every problem has one simple cause or can be solved by a single withdrawal.

Use it as concise advice to stop supplying what feeds an escalating problem—such as attention, money, materials, access, or provocation. It can refer literally to fire safety as well as figuratively to prevention or de-escalation.