Now, fire from airplane fuel burning at 1800 degrees can melt structural steel whuch normally starts to melt at 2700 degrees.

Perhaps one of the things you'll learn about as a physics major is what we potters call "heat work". The basic idea is that heat-induced change is not the result of temperature alone, but the cumulative result of temperature plus duration of exposure. Potters monitor firings by use of pyrometric cones which deform (melt) in a predictable manner determined by the amount of heat work done, not strictly by the temperature reached. The same cone deformation can be achieved by "soaking" a kiln for a couple of hours at 2150ºF as by rapidly raising the temperature to 2300ºF.

Also, fuels can be induced to yield temperatures far above their "maximum burning temperature" by increasing surface area, increasing air flow, and confining combustion to a chamber. Potters who fire their kilns with wood routinely achieve temperatures in the 2300ºF range even though the "maximum burning temperature" of wood is said to be around 1100ºF.