White phosphorus burns and produces a great amount of heat. I read somewhere it is about 4000 degrees when it burns. It is also attracted to the fats in people's bodies, so when it hits skin it burns through and just keeps on burning. Rapid removal is recommended. That is, if some hit my skin say on the arm, and I had a sharp knife (and the guts to do it), I would either dig out the piece or cut out the piece taking the necessary flesh and tissue with it.

To give an idea of how hot 4000 degrees is, our bunker gear will keep us fairly well protected to about 1000 degrees for a short time. Flashover occurs at about 1200 degrees. Flashover occurs in about 1 1/2 seconds. It's the point at which everything that can burn in a room bursts into flames all at once. Completely dressed firefighters trapped in flashovers die or--if they live--suffer horrible burns. The few who escape do so by laying face down on the floor and waiting for ten seconds for the flash to happen and subside. Then the heat in the room returns to a relatively friendly 900-1000 degrees. That's when it's time to leave, really fast. I have been in about 1150 degrees. It's very hot. I have no idea what getting burned by phosphorus would be like, but sure as hell it would feel like pain from another world. Materials used by people to burn others in war--inhuman. Period.