Fire, Flames, Inferno …

Since ancient times, humans have known about fire. We have feared it, welcomed its warmth, and harnessed its power.

John Wesley said that if you catch on fire, people will come for miles to see you burn. He understood the intrinsic attraction flames represent for most people.

The Greek philosopher Plutarch said that the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.

One of Ray Bradbury’s characters in Fahrenheit 451 voiced his thoughts about fire: “It’s perpetual motion; the thing man wanted to invent but never did. … If you let it go on, it’d burn our lifetimes out. … It’s a mystery. … Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. … Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical.”

Would your WIP benefit from a few flames?

Adjectives

Careful selection of adjectives reveals opinions.

An arsonist might refer to a structure fire as irresistible, majestic, or resplendent. However, a fire fighter might view it as catastrophic, devastating, or uncontrolled. Maybe a couple in love would gaze at the flames in a fireplace and consider them beautiful, cheerful, or romantic. An ancient priest?  Perhaps his fire is ceremonial, holy, or sacred.

Choose descriptors with care, researching the definitions if necessary. For example, pyrotechnic refers to grandiose displays such as fireworks or a rock band’s lightshow, while pyrotechny, although sometimes used interchangeably with pyrotechnic, more correctly refers to the use of fire in alchemy.

Beware flammable and inflammable. Some readers will think the first word means “to catch fire easily” while the second means “impervious to fire.” But these words share the same definition: “easily set on fire.” Better to stick with straightforward words such as combustible and fireproof.

In addition to the words in the following list, you can create many adjectives by adding -ing or -ed suffixes to verbs.

The List

A and B
ablaze, accidental, aflame, alight, angry, benign, beautiful, blinding, bright, brilliant, brisk, brutal

C
capricious, catastrophic, celestial, ceremonial, cheerful, cheery, chemical, clean-burning, cleansing, close, coal, cold, concentrated, constant, contained, cozy, cruel

D
dangerous, dead, deadly, deliberate, deliberately set, dense, destructive, devastating, disastrous, distant, divine, dormant

E
effulgent, electrical, elemental, empyreal, endless, enraged, erratic, ethereal, everlasting, evil, expansive, explosive

F to H
feeble, fiendish, fierce, forked, furious, gas, ghostly, glorious, greedy, harmless, hazardous, heavenly, hellish, historic, holy, huge, hungry

I
impure, incandescent, incessant, indefatigable, ineffectual, inefficient, infernal, infinite, innocuous, insatiable, intense, invincible, invisible, irresistible

L and M
latent, life-threatening, liquid, live, luminous, magical, majestic, malevolent, malignant, massive, memorable, merciless, molten, monstrous, murderous, mystical

N to P
noiseless, noisy, open, out-of-control, Pentecostal, perpetual, persistent, phantom, phosphorous, pitiless, pleasant, portentous, potent, purgatorial, purposeless, pyrotechnic

Q and R
quenchless, radiant, radioactive, random, rapid, ravenous, raw, red-hot, relentless, resplendent, righteous, rolling, romantic, ruthless

S
sacred, sacrificial, savage, silent, sinister, slow, sluggish, small, smokeless, sporadic, subterranean, sulfurous, suspicious, swift

T and U
terrible, thermonuclear, thick, torrid, unceasing, uncontrollable, uncontrolled, unending, unexpected, unholy, unquenchable, unremitting, untamed, useful, useless

V and W
vehement, vicious, vigorous, volatile, volcanic, wanton, warm, wasteful, wayward, welcome, white-hot, widespread, wild, wondrous, wood-burning, wrathful

Similes and Metaphors

Many similes and metaphors border on cliché. Try to replace them with more direct terms (except in dialogue). For example:

hot as fire: blistering, boiling, broiling, searing, sizzling, torrid

like a house on fire: fast, speedy; dynamic, robust, vigorous

spread like wildfire: disseminate or circulate rapidly

fire of passion: ardor, fervor, fever, hunger, lust

fiery anger: fury, outrage, rage, wrath

Colors

Many fuels produce colorful flames. Pyrotechnic displays take advantage of this fact.

blue: butane, copper chloride (cuprous chloride)

green: borax, (laundry additive, ant traps), boric acid, copper sulfate (cupric sulfate)

orange: calcium chloride, sodium chloride (table salt)

pink: potassium chloride

red: lithium chloride, strontium chloride, strontium nitrate

yellow: barium chloride

Carbon monoxide burns orange or yellow, whereas a properly functioning gas stove will burn blue. Hot candle flames are light blue, cooling to yellow, then orange, and finally, red.

See also 1000+ Ways to Describe Colors.

Verbs (1)

Characters and/or objects might:

• add paper, coal, or wood to a fire
• blow on a fire
• build a fire
• bury a fire, embers, or coals
• cast fireballs
• cloak a fire
• conceal a fire
• cook over a fire
• cuddle next to a fire
• discharge tendrils of fire
• douse a fire with water, dirt, or sand
• dry hair, body, or clothing in front of a fire
• escape a fire
• extinguish a fire with water, dry chemicals, or sand
• fan a fire
• feed a fire
• fight a fire
• find a fire (perhaps by monitoring thermal images from an aircraft)
• fireproof an object
• fling fireballs
• fling tendrils of fire
• gaze into a fire
• hurl fireballs
• ignite a fire
• kindle a fire
• light a fire
• nestle next to a fire
• put out a fire
• quench a fire
• set fire to something
• set something ablaze, aflame, or afire
• shoot fiery arrows
• snuff out a fire
• snuggle in front of a fireplace
• spit-roast meat over an open fire or hot coals
• squat next to a fire
• stare into a fire
• stir a fire
• stoke a fire
• tend to a fire
• throw wet sacks over a fire
• torture someone with fire
• toss something into a fire
• warm oneself by a fire
• watch a fire
• worship fire

Verbs (2)

Fire or flames might:

A and B
advance, ascend, assault, attack, bake, belch, besiege, blacken, blanket, blast, blaze, blister, blossom, blow out, boil, burn (down, out), burst (out, through)

C
carbonize, cascade, cast a glow, catch, cavort, char, chase, cleanse, combust, confuse, consume, cook, coruscate, cover, crackle, creep, cremate

D and E
damage, dance, decimate, deflagrate, deluge, destroy, devour, die, eat, embrace, engulf, enkindle, explode

F
fizzle (out), flame (out, up), flare (up), flash, flicker, fly, follow, frighten, fulgurate

G to I
glare, gleam, glow, gorge, grope (for), gush (up), harden, heat, hiss, hurdle, hurtle, ignite, illuminate, immolate, incinerate, inundate, invite

K to M
kill, kindle, lap, lash, leap (into life), lick, light (up), linger, loom, mesmerize, move

O to R
overtake, overwhelm, play, pop, purify, race, radiate, rage, rampage, reach (for), retreat, rip through, roar, roast

S
scintillate, scorch, sear, shoot, simmer, singe, sizzle, smoke, smolder, snake through, snap, spark, speed, spill, splutter, spread, sputter, start, surge, swallow, sweep (over, through), swelter, swirl

T to W
tear through, threaten, twinkle, wander, whip, whisper

Many water words can also be applied to fire.

Nouns

There is a huge difference between a campfire and a wildfire, a fireball and a firestorm. A few nouns that could replace fire include:

A to W
avalanche of flames, ball of fire, blaze, bonfire, brushfire, bushfire, campfire, conflagration, curtain of flames, fireball, firestorm, flames, forest fire, grassfire, inferno, sea of flames, sheet of flames, tsunami of flames, wall of flames, wildfire

Props

Props, whether objects, events, or people, add to a storyline:

A
accelerant, alarm, alert, ambulance, arson, arsonist, ash, ax

B
backdraft, barbecue, barricade, bellows, blister, blowtorch, boiler, bomb, bottle bomb, brazier, broiler, bucket brigade, burns, bush, butane

C
C-4, candle, chain reaction, charcoal, chemicals, chimney, cigarette butt, cinders, clinkers, coal, combustibles, combustion, cookstove, cremation

D and E
dynamite, embers, EMT, explosives

F
fire brigade, fire department, fire eater, fire escape, fire extinguisher, fire hose, fire insurance, fire pumps, fire ring, fire screen, fire striker, fire trench, fire triangle, fire warden, fire watch, firebrand, firebreak, firebug, firecrackers, firedamp, firefighter, fireplace, firestop, fire-suppression system, fireworks, flame-keeper, flamethrower, flammability, flash, flashover, flashpoint, flint, foam, fuel, fumes, furnace

G and H
gas, gas lamp, gas leak, gas stove, gasses, glare, glow, grill, halon, hearth, heat, heat sensor, heat signature, heater, heat-resistant clothing or uniform, hellfire, hoops of fire, hose, hose nozzle, hydrant, hydrazine

I to K
IED, ignition, illusionist, incandescence, incendiary device, infrared energy, insurance adjustor, insurance investigator, intensity, investigation, jet, jet fuel, kerosene, kerosene heater, kiln, kindling

L to N
laser, lava, lighter, lighter fluid, lightning, logs, luminosity, magician, magnesium, matches, meth lab, microwave oven, Molotov cocktail, napalm, natural gas, necromancer, nitroglycerine

O and P
oast, odor, oil, oil drum, oil tanker, origin, oven, paramedic, petrol, petrol bomb, petroleum, plasma, police, potassium, prevention, propane, propane tank, pyre, pyromania, pyrophobia, pyrotechny

R
rescue vehicle, retardant, risk, rocket, Roman candle

S
sacrifice, shovel, siren, smell, smoke, smoke detector, smoke signals, soot, sorcerer, sparks, sparkler, speed, spontaneous combustion, sprinkler system, sprinklers, suppressant, swath

T to V
thermal camera, thermal imager, thermal images, thermal radiation, tinder, TNT, toaster, toaster oven, torch, trees, trench, victims, volcano, volunteers

W to Z
warlock, water main, welder’s mask, wick, witch, wizard, wood, woodpile, zip fuel

Clichés and Idioms

Too many repetitions of fire in your WIP? Locate phrases such as the following and replace them with shorter alternatives.

fire in one’s blood: ardor, fervor, passion, zeal

fire of life: elan, enthusiasm, gusto, vigor, vivacity

to fight fire with fire: counter, fight back, get even, retaliate

to go up in flames: be destroyed, burn, combust, disappear, explode

to light a fire under: coerce, impel, induce, prod, push, urge

to pass through the fire: desensitize, harden, inure, test, toughen

to play with fire: endanger, gamble, jeopardize, risk

too many irons in the fire: inundated, overwhelmed, swamped

trial by fire: gauntlet, ordeal, stress, test