Intumescent coatings make the most efficient way of fire retarding of flammable materials. The coatings swell under the influence of heat and form a thick porous charred layer. The latter perfectly insulates a substrate against excessive increase of temperature and oxygen access. In order to make intumescent coatings more effective. a proper selection of essential components, i.e. carbonising. foam-producing and dehydrating materials, is necessary. The choice of components for an intumescent tire retardant composition has an essential effect on the rate of charred mass formation and its structure. In the paper. the influence of different modifiers, added to amino resins during the process of condensation, on fire retardant and heat-insulating efficiency of intumescent coatings for wood, is presented. The fireproofing efficiency was studied by cone calorimeter. This paper also presents the results of thermal analysis of samples dynamically heated from 298K to 823K in the presence of oxygen. The results are presented in the form of DTA, TG and DTA curves.