Why is this the answer?

The answer is fire because this clever riddle uses a trick with words to describe how fire acts almost like a living thing, even though it is not alive like a person or a pet. It is a puzzle about what helps something grow and what stops it completely. Let us look closely at the first line of the puzzle: "Give it food and it will live." When a fire is burning, it needs certain materials to keep it going, which we call fuel. Things like wooden logs, dry leaves, or even pieces of paper are the favorite snacks of a fire. Think of a small campfire in a safe fire pit. If you toss a new log onto that little fire, the fire starts to burn brighter, grow taller, and become much hotter. The flame "eats" the wood, turning it into heat and light. By adding more of its "food," you are helping the fire to live and grow stronger, just like eating a big, healthy meal gives you energy to play and learn. Now for the second part, which is the big trick: "Give it water and it will die." This part is the opposite of how we treat living creatures. We all know what happens when you pour water on a fire. If you sprinkle a little bit of water on a small flame, the fire starts to hiss and shrink. If you pour a big bucket of water on a large fire, the water quickly cools the heat away and blocks the air the fire needs. The fire will instantly go out, leaving only smoke and black ashes behind. Water is what fire fighters use to stop fires. So, while water helps every animal and plant live, it is the one thing that will always cause a fire to "die." The riddle works perfectly because fire is the only thing we can feed to make it strong, but water will make it disappear.