Editing Fire

{{Quality|Exceptional|17:12, 29 January 2015 (UTC)}}

[[Image:Running around on fire.gif|thumb|250px|''(click to enlarge)''<br />'''‼'''Dwarves'''‼''' on fire (flashing red/yellow), and trailing [[smoke]].]]

'''Fire''', like its real-life counterpart, is an immensely [[fun|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]], [[shrub]]s, [[log]]s, [[clothes]], [[dwarves]], multi-tile trees (and generally all creatures that are not composed of [[fire-safe]] materials), wooden [[furniture]], wooden [[building]]s and wooden [[road]]s, [[lignite]] and [[bituminous coal]] rocks, and bars of [[charcoal]] and [[coke]].  Except for dragonfire, fire won't burn rock or metal. Constructions (wall, floor, etc.) will never burn, no matter what.

 

Despite [[fire-safe]]ty being defined as stability at a [[temperature]] of {{ct|11000}}, actual burning items rapidly heat up to 200 degrees above their ignition point (but stay slightly below that, because the surrounding air cools them a bit).

 

A fire can stem from several sources, for example:

*[[Fire imp]]s can throw fireballs, which may set things alight.

*[[Magma crab]]s can spit globs of liquid basalt which may set grass or cave moss alight, causing fires.

*[[Magma]] 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.

*[[Fire man|Fire men]] and [[magma man|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 not spread across Z-Levels by itself. Walls with trapped passages block the fire too. Both shrubs and trees can catch fire, and burning branches can potentially spread fires uphill. When aboveground, fire spreading can cause trees to collapse, and if it spreads too much, this can cause spam as the game repeatedly announces "Something outside has collapsed!" and pauses.

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 ==

:''Main article: [[Dragonfire]]

Dragonfire is a very powerful form of fire that is capable of igniting or melting many fire-safe materials. Specifically, organic materials ignite (including [[nether-cap]]), and non-flammable stones and metals melt and boil away. Objects ignited by dragonfire burn at their standard combustion temperature - only the initial blast of dragonfire is able to destroy [[fire-safe]] materials.

Dragonfire can only naturally be emitted by [[dragon]]s.

== Artifacts ==

[[Artifact|Artifacts]] constructed from a flammable base material can burn. As Artifacts don't wear away fire does no damage. Artifacts will burn endlessly without being destroyed. So long as the artifact is not stored in a bin water will extinguish it. If a flammable artifact is used as part of a building it can still burn.

In recent versions of Dwarf Fortress dwarves see fire as a danger to themselves and try to avoid becoming ‼Dwarves‼. However, burning dwarves will carry out typical dwarven activities despite the fact the dwarf is burning to death, and will spread the fiery destruction to his peers. {{verify}} This will not only kill your dwarves but more importantly, it will also incinerate a good many useful items. Dwarves will not path through smoke reliably, so if you see a bunch of job cancellations due to pathing issues, a fiery dwarf is probably running around (or other [[fun]] is afoot). Alternatively, sometimes the smoke on the burning dwarf's tile prevents them from pathing anywhere, forcing them to be stationary while they burn.  And don't, for Armok's sake, let the flaming dwarves anywhere near the booze. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't ''explode'' (and never did), but it ''will'' boil away into nothing, which is always [[fun#No_Booze|fun]].