It's also why a solid wood beam does better in a fire than steel. Once the outside is charred it shields the inside and the beam can keep a good bit of its strength before eventually failing once the outer layers get burned through. The steel heats up quickly and goes soft long before its melting point.

Help me name the sci-fi novella I'm (totally) going to write about durian panspermia.

I feel like we are ignoring the evaporative power of moisture that the fruit, and not the steel beam, can utilize. Metal transforms along the entire heating process, the durian will evaporate until a husk and then immediately be immolated.