Fire

“

Click to listen

— The Spy

”

A burning Heavy

Fire or afterburn refers to the damage-over-time effect inflicted on a player when hit by an enemy Pyro's Flamethrower, Backburner, Degreaser or Flare Gun. A Sniper can also set enemies on fire if a friendly Pyro has ignited his Huntsman arrows. This is useful for hit-and-run tactics and for weakening or finishing off an opponent if the damage from the Flamethrower alone is not enough to kill them. This allows Pyros to score kills even while dead, as the fire damage may finish off a wounded opponent.

Upon being set aflame, a player character will automatically scream out that they are on fire, alerting nearby Medics and teammates to their plight. Setting an opponent on fire also creates a disorienting effect on their screen view (flames will engulf the edges of the screen and a burning sound is heard). This can be used to a team's advantage if the Pyro is able to ambush a group of attacking foes. Snipers lit on fire will find it extremely difficult to perform an accurate shot, as the scoped view will move every time the Sniper takes damage from the burning.

Fire can be used to carry out Spy checks. A small burst of flame will ignite an enemy Spy, even if cloaked or disguised. If a player is set on fire, you can see particles of the players team color coming from them, a useful effect for distinguishing disguised Spies.

The fire effect starts immediately upon damage from the Flamethrower, Backburner, Flare Gun, or a flaming arrow from the Huntsman and lasts for 10 seconds. Additional hits from these weapons restarts the duration of the fire back to ten seconds. Fire damages a player every half-second for 3 HP each tick, totaling 60 damage over those ten seconds. Afterburn damage cannot Crit, however it can still Mini-Crit if the target is covered in Jarate or if the attacking Pyro is buffed by the Buff Banner

Note that enemy Pyros cannot be set on fire. While a Pyro still takes contact damage from the Flamethrower, he will not take further damage over time. The Pyro does, however, count as on fire for a brief second while he appears with the charred graphical effect after taking damage from a fire-inducing weapon, and while he takes no additional damage, he can still suffer Critical hits from the Axtinguisher, or Mini-Crits from the Flare Gun.

Associated kill icons
Flamethrower
Backburner
Degreaser
Flare Gun
Flaming Huntsman
Flaming Huntsman afterburn
Flaming Huntsman headshot
Deflected flaming Huntsman
Deflected flaming Huntsman headshot
Axtinguisher
Environmental ignite damage (Custom maps only)

Surviving Fire

The following will extinguish a player who is on fire:

Picking up a health pack or Sandvich
Completely immersing one's self in a body of water. Puddles and low-level water (such as in the sewer tunnels in 2Fort) will not extinguish a burning player.
Being the recipient of a regular ÜberCharge; a Kritzkrieg charge will not extinguish the flames if the target is already being healed.
Being splashed with Jarate by a friendly Sniper, or Mad Milk from a friendly Scout. Snipers and Scouts can also extinguish themselves by throwing their respective Jars at their feet.
Being airblasted by a friendly Pyro.
Activating the Dead Ringer as a Spy.

The following methods do not extinguish the afterburn, but can "ride it out" by healing faster than the afterburn can deal and guaranteeing your survival:

Eating a Sandvich or a Dalokohs Bar.
Being healed by a Medic
Being healed by an Engineer's Dispenser or by the Cart in Payload mode.
Drinking Bonk! Atomic Punch will stop any afterburn damage, although it may resume after the effects of Bonk! have worn off.
A Medic's health regeneration will often be enough. With the Syringe Gun, the minimum healing rate (3/sec) will halve the damage taken by fire.
A Medic's Oktoberfest taunt may save a Medic low on health.

Related Achievements

General

64px	Flamethrower Set five enemies on fire in 30 seconds.

Soldier

Semper Fry

Kill 20 enemies while you are on fire.

Pyro

	Attention Getter Ignite 100 enemies with the Flare Gun.		Baptism by Fire Force 10 burning enemies to jump into water.
	Burn Ward Ignite 3 Medics that are ready to deploy an ÜberCharge.		Combined Fire Use your Shotgun to finish off 20 players you've ignited.
	Controlled Burn Ignite 50 enemies capturing one of your control points.		Cooking the Books Ignite 5 enemies carrying your intelligence.
	Firewall Ignite 5 Spies who have an Electro Sapper on a friendly building.		Firewatch Ignite 10 Snipers while they are zoomed in.
	Got A Light? Ignite an enemy Spy while he's flicking a cigarette.		I Fry Ignite 10 disguised Spies.
	Next of Kindling Ignite an enemy, and the Medic healing him.		Pilot Light Ignite a rocket-jumping Soldier while he's in midair.
	Pyromancer Do 1 million points of total fire damage.		Second Degree Burn Kill a burning enemy who was ignited by another Pyro.
	Spontaneous Combustion Ignite 10 cloaked Spies.		Trailblazer Ignite 10 enemies that have recently used a teleporter.
	Weenie Roast Have 2 enemy Scouts on fire at the same time.