v0.34:Fire

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Fire, like its real-life counterpart, is an immensely destructive force. In-game, entities on the map which are on fire flash red and yellow. In item lists, anything which is on fire will also be surrounded by double exclamation marks, like ‼THIS‼. Fire will burn grass, shrubs, logs, clothes, dwarves (and generally all creatures that are not composed of fire-safe materials), wooden furniture, wooden buildings and wooden roads, mined out lignite and coal, and bars of charcoal and coke. Except for dragonfire, fire won't burn rock, metal, trees, unmined lignite or coal, constructions made from wood (wall, floor, etc).

Despite fire-safety being defined as stability at a temperature of 11000 °U , actual burning items rapidly heat up to several degrees below 11640 °U (due to being cooled by the surrounding air).

Cause

A fire can stem from several sources, for example:

• Dragons breathe dragonfire, which can set things on fire and will melt most metals, at anything hostile they see. The dragonfire spreads out in a conical shape and burns anything it touches.
• A fire imp can throw fireballs, which may set things alight.
• Magma can and will burn anything flammable it touches. However, any item set alight by this method will likely just be doused in magma until it is completely destroyed.
• Magma mist burns stuff just as well as magma.
• Some titans, forgotten beasts, and demons can breathe fire/throw fireballs, too.
• Fire men and magma men, as well as other procedurally generated beasts composed of flame, have high fixed body temperatures, causing them to spread fires (and fun) in their path.

Note that it is currently difficult to safely start (and then control) a fire. Fire is most easily started by either magma or a fire breathing attack. An area enclosed by water, metal, stone or Z-level difference can be used to start a fire which can be used as a way of increasing FPS by removing objects or can be used as part of a complex trap, though this may lead to fun when something comes out burning which then sets the rest of the fort on fire. Players of modded DF can have fire-breathing (fire spell casting) goblin castes.

Spread

Fire will spread across Z-Levels by itself. Walls with trapped passages block the fire too. Trees and shrubs will not catch fire, but you can set them on fire in Adventure Mode.

In Combat

If fighting a fire-breathing creature such as a forgotten beast, it can help greatly to fight it on a staircase; as the stairs themselves cannot catch fire, your soldiers will be able to hack away without actually burning. This is further helped by fireball-hurling creatures' great preference to using fire rather than normal attacks, making them almost harmless on a staircase. It seems that in this case, dwarves on a staircase hit by a fireball will have flashing names as though they are on fire, but will not actually take any fire damage due to not standing on a tile that is on fire, which is most likely a bug.

Additionally, fire-breathing creatures may not be immune to their own fire, sometimes causing them to burn themselves to death in a melee.

Ghosts

One thing to note is that dwarves that burn to death do not leave remains and will produce ghosts even if buried in a coffin. Be sure to engrave a memorial to all dwarves that burn to ashes, unless of course you want a ghost infestation.

Dragonfire

Dragonfire is a very powerful form of fire that reaches temperatures much above regular fire, up to 14000 °U . However, items on the ground and the ground itself reach a much lower temperature, only 10600 °U — lower than regular fire. Buildings (but not constructions) receive the full effect of dragonfire, so it will easily melt or otherwise destroy all buildings but those made of nether-cap, dolomite, periclase, raw adamantine, adamantine, and slade.

Dragonfire can only naturally be emitted by dragons.