Dwarf Fortress Bug Tracker - Dwarf Fortress
View Issue Details
0005011Dwarf FortressFirepublic2012-01-09 14:502016-05-23 12:05
Quietust 
Footkerchief 
normalminorhave not tried
confirmedopen 
0.31.25 
 
0005011: Material fire-safety temperature inconsistent with actual fire temperature
Materials are considered to be "fire-safe" when they are stable at the temperature 11000 (though due to 0004573 they aren't). However, objects that have been set on fire (e.g. by being dunked in magma temporarily) burn at the temperature 11640 (actually slightly lower, due to being cooled by the surrounding air).

If there's going to be a fire-safety threshold, it should be a lot higher - as it is, coal is technically considered fire-safe but will be set on fire by other nearby burning items.
No tags attached.
related to 0004573resolved Toady One [MAGMA_BUILD_SAFE] reaction token does not work properly 
Issue History
2012-01-09 14:50QuietustNew Issue
2012-02-01 10:33FootkerchiefRelationship addedrelated to 0004573
2012-05-31 18:08QuietustNote Added: 0022799
2014-05-09 08:23QuietustNote Added: 0024749
2014-11-06 04:40ptb_ptbNote Added: 0030883
2014-11-06 06:34FootkerchiefAssigned To => Footkerchief
2014-11-06 06:34FootkerchiefStatusnew => confirmed
2016-05-23 12:05QuietustNote Added: 0035274
2021-09-09 13:29QuietustNote Edited: 0024749bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0024749#r16747

Notes
(0022799)
Quietust   
2012-05-31 18:08   
With 0004573 fixed, users have confirmed that charcoal is now considered fire-safe and can be used to build (non-magma) furnaces.
(0024749)
Quietust   
2014-05-09 08:23   
(edited on: 2021-09-09 13:29)
A minor correction - burning items heat up to 200 degrees above their ignite point (the material being tested was bituminous coal, which has an ignition point of 11440), while grass fires burn at a temperature of 10708.

(0030883)
ptb_ptb   
2014-11-06 04:40   
As of DF 0.40.15 you can still build smelters with charcoal.
(0035274)
Quietust   
2016-05-23 12:05   
Given the nature of fire in DF (namely, the fact that its temperature depends on what's actually burning), I'm not sure if it's feasible to "fix" this particular problem, aside from possibly choosing a better reference temperature.

Summary: this bug report was based on incorrect/incomplete knowledge of game mechanics and can probably be closed.