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[Nonsequitorian]

My fortress, Ochreleopards, is a sprawling castle in a savanna. I started up my save recently to start playing when suddenly all the grass and plantation and consequently all my dwarves laboring out in the hot sun were killed. I had to save scum to see if this was bound to happen again, and it did.

After a third try I got it under control and saved all my dwarves, but I lost all my caged animals and all my cages and all my bones and bone crafts. And a whole lot of my food and all my pots. I've now got it under control, but I am now wondering whether this is a normal thing for a dry hot biome or I accidentally put something burning into my refuse stockpile (that's where it started).

Does this happen often, are there any ways to combat this? It kinda sucks having everything burnt to a crisp in a flash fire that moves faster than anybody can run.

[NW_Kohaku]

That probably shouldn't happen often, but there used to be problems with weather, where the game would become extremely hot because of a bug where the above-ground temperature would only rise and never fall, so that when it started raining, it would be so scalding hot it would melt the dwarves it hit. 

It is hypothetically possible you are in a place so hot that the grass is spontaneously combusting, although very unlikely.

It is more likely that there was some sort of creature that could use a fire-based attack that accidentally started the blaze.  If you have an open magma vent or something, fire imps are notorious for starting fires by throwing fireballs at passing hoary marmots or whatever. 

As a defense, by the way, I believe that fires still are incapable of travelling up or down z-levels, so having some "speed bumps" that are basically just mounds or ditches with ramps built can prevent fires from spreading beyond a single "cell" of the map.

[Naryar]

Makes sense. In a very hot, dry biome, fire risks are very real IRL.

[Loud Whispers]

Did your map look like this?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Nonsequitorian]

No, more like a sudden wave of fire rippling outwards. Tons of smoke above it and tons of ash settled behind it. It seemed pretty realistic, but having a totally catastrophic weather event like that happen without a warning is different from the norm, where even a dumb gremlin is reason to pause the game.

[Scelly9]

Thats cool.

[NW_Kohaku]

I have to ask again, were there any creatures in the game area (or are dead now) that could start fires, and is there any way magma could get to the surface? 

I don't think this should be a naturally-occurring phenomenon, even if it is realistic, with the way that the game currently works.

[xdarkcodex]

Oh god everything is on fire!

[Dr. D]

Fire is awesome in this game. I should start another one.

[RedKing]

Rippling outwards, you say? Makes me wonder if somehow a barrel of booze heated up to the point where the barrel caught fire. Booze barrels explode outwards in a ring.

[Quietust]

Rippling outwards, you say? Makes me wonder if somehow a barrel of booze heated up to the point where the barrel caught fire. Booze barrels explode outwards in a ring.

Alcohol does not burn in Dwarf Fortress - it boils into a harmless cloud of vapor (and gases are not flammable).

[MenacesWithSpikes]

Scorching biome maybe?

[NW_Kohaku]

Scorching biome maybe?

But the reason that the "acid rain" problem occured was because temperature never mattered until water entered the picture.  It could be 300 degrees outside, and the game would never bother changing anything with regards to the grass unless there was a temperature check to test for grass flammability.

The question is if that check even exists, or if it doesn't even bother testing temperature until you have something like water in the form of rain to actually be affected by the temperature.

[Loud Whispers]

temperature never mattered until water entered the picture.

No rain here. Just extreme temperatures.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[werechicken]

Did anyone else think of a rash in a private place when they read the title?

Are you sure there wasn't a titan in the area that was either made of fire or breathed fire? Also while the fire itself does not go up or down z levels, any creatures that get caught up in the wave of fire can spread the flames as they run around.