Which early hominid group was the first to use fire and the hand ax? (it's for a school assignment, : )  )

The correct answer is - Homo erectus.

Homo erectus is the first hominid that is thought of by the scientist to have used controlled fire and a hand ax. Though it is an ongoing debate about the time of the first usage of the fire and the hand ax and there's different opinions about it, the archaeological findings suggest that controlled fire was first used around one million years ago in South Africa, and around 400,000 years ago in Israel and Europe, while the hand ax is dated around one million years ago in Africa, Europe, and Asia... If there's something certain about it all, it is that this discoveries were made and used by the Homo erectus.

i can't beat you to a pulp if i'm not close enough.