So, you picked up *Firefighting Simulator: Ignite*. Congrats — you now get to run into burning buildings without smelling like BBQ ribs afterward. This guide will give you tips from both a real-world firefighter perspective and a “why the heck the game does this” perspective. Follow these and you’ll spend more time rescuing civilians and less time wondering why that one flaming chair is immortal.

Credit where it’s due: LockedandFiring’s Beginner Guide explains this beautifully.

• Straight Stream: Think “rifle.” It’s a focused, long-range beam that hits a single point with power. Perfect for reaching flames at a distance, knocking down concentrated hotspots, or hitting ceiling fires when you don’t want to walk into a room of death.
  [+] Pros: High range, high penetration, great for precision, can shoot out certain windows.
  [-] Cons: Covers very little area — bad for rooms fully engulfed.
  
  
• Mist: Think “shotgun.” Wide spread, less penetration, but you can hit an entire wall of flame in one pass. Fantastic for rolling fires across ceilings, walls, and those suspiciously flammable piles of furniture.
  [+] Pros: Covers more ground, knocks down big sheets of fire quickly, makes rooms safer to enter, great for saturating objects.
  [-] Cons: Shorter range, weaker punch. Won’t reach across a long hallway.

Why it matters: Fire spreads differently depending on where it’s burning. Straight stream = surgical strike. Mist = crowd control. Choose wrong and you’ll waste water and time while the house cooks itself.

A lot of new players run into a burning room, see flames licking the floor, and immediately hose down the base. Wrong move.

Why: Heat rises, and in both real life and this game, ceiling fires are killers. If the ceiling is rolling with flame, it creates a flashover — basically the entire room exploding into fire at once. If you don’t cool the ceiling first, you risk getting flash-fried.

• Pro move: Spray the ceiling first to knock down the heat and stop flashover. Then transition to the base of the fire.
  
• Rookie move: Ignore the ceiling, spray the floor, then ask “why did I just die instantly?” or "Why isn't this rooms fire going out?!"

• Priority 1: Civilians. Always. They don’t have SCBAs (air tanks) and can’t respawn. Drag them out first.
  
• Priority 2: Utilities. Gas and electricity make small fires into Michael Bay explosions. If you don’t cut them, you’re fighting an uphill battle.

Why: A fire fed by gas keeps relighting, and an active breaker box can keep sparking flames even after you spray them out. Shutting utilities down buys you time and makes the entire map safer for your team.

[+] Bonus: You look like a hero when the fire dies down faster.
[-] Downside: You might have to stop firefighting and play “find the switch.” Boo-hoo. Worth it.

This game cheats — fire is just 2D sprites slapped into 3D space. Which means:

• That flame clipping through the wall? Yeah, it’s actually burning in the next room.
  
• If you spray it and it won’t go out fast, it’s not *really* there. It’s just a ghost.

Why this matters: Don’t waste water. Instead, hunt down the true source in the next room. Kill the hotspot and both fires vanish.

[+] Looks cool when you “exorcise” the flame and watch it disappear through walls.
[-] Makes you question physics.

You’ll notice sometimes the fire “looks” alive for a few seconds even after you kill the hotspot. That’s animation lag.

Why: The game waits a second or two before updating the sprite. So if you already nailed the hotspot, stop wasting water. It’s already out — the game just hasn’t caught up yet.

Think of it like shooting someone in a laggy online shooter. They’re already dead, but they just don’t know it yet.

See walls glowing red like a toaster oven? Maybe some charred remains, with glowy red LED lights? That means hidden fire inside or imminent ignition.

Why spray them: Cooling down walls prevents the fire from spreading behind you. Ignore it, and you’ll get that fun moment where you turn around and the hallway you came from is now a BBQ pit.

[+] Proactive suppression = easier control.
[-] If you ignore it, you’ll spend double the time fighting flare-ups later.

• Closed doors/windows keep fire out of untouched rooms. Fire is lazy — don’t give it more air or space to move.
  
• Breaking windows vents smoke so you can see and breathe. BUT… more oxygen = bigger flames.

Why it matters: Ventilation is a tool, not a toy. If you open up too many doors or smash every window, congratulations, you’ve made a giant flamethrower.

Pro tip: Vent only where you’re attacking from, not everywhere like an overexcited Kool-Aid Man.

Some fires laugh at water. That’s when foam is your best friend.

• Hold Spacebar while looking at a truck. Press 1–4 to order a teammate to swap supply between water and foam.
  
• If they complain about stabilizers, let them finish. Then try again. They’ll get it done.

Why this is awesome: You stay in the fight while AI does the grunt work. Foam knocks out chemical/electrical fires faster and keeps them from reigniting.

[+] Saves time, stops stubborn fires.
[-] Takes trust in AI… which is always risky.

Hit H for your TIC (thermal imaging camera). This lets you see heat sources through smoke, walls, and furniture.

• See a glowing hotspot? Aim at it, press 1–4, and send a firefighter.
  
• AI firefighters don’t care about walls or line of sight — if it’s on your screen, they’ll go stomp it.

Why it matters: Fires hide in sneaky places. The TIC is your cheat code to find them before they blow up into something worse.

Save civilians first. Cool ceilings before floors. Shut doors to contain fire. Use the right nozzle for the right situation. Spray glowing walls. And remember: don’t keep hosing a burnt couch expecting it to respawn like a Minecraft tree.

Stay safe, stay sarcastic, and always blame the rookie.