Fire

Languages: The content of this page is based on Prison Architect Version 1.

Gameplay

Fire

Description:

Fire is an Emergency event that can occur in your prison during normal game play.

Other Information:

None provided

Fire Emergency in a Prison

The main causes of fire can come from rioting Prisoners who are in possession of a Lighter, or from water touching a Power Station (this includes the player manually directing Firemen to spray water on a Power Station that is not already on fire). Fire can also be caused by water coming into contact with any object that is electrical (e.g., Electric Chair).

If the Events option is used, Cookers in the kitchen may catch fire at random, as well as power stations at or near maximum capacity, without any external influences. Events are unlike other fires as you will receive a call notifying you of the fire. The extreme version of a power station fire is a power station explosion, which spreads fire across a bigger radius and kills more prisoners and staff instantly.

The animation on the right is how fire is displayed in the game, and it will also emit dark smoke clouds along with sizzling static sounds. The game does not notify or alert you in any way in the event a fire ignites (UNLESS the fire was caused by a random event), however it is not too difficult to spot.

How It Works

Fire is extremely dangerous. It has an attack power of 0.1, and applies this damage every in-game minute. Fire also has a toughness value of 10, which doesn't make it easy to extinguish.

Fire starts off as a small flame that quickly grows in size. The fire will then begin spreading to nearby tiles which create more small flames that also grow in size. If not extinguished quickly, a fire can consume a large portion of your prison in under 4 in-game hours, and will consume any prison built on the small map size in a full in-game day.

Anything that comes into contact with fire will slowly get damaged until it becomes destroyed. This includes all Materials and Objects. Additionally, any Prisoner or Staff member that attempts to walk across a flame will be slowed down significantly. This reduction in speed can cause a prisoner or staff member to get caught in the blaze which might end up killing them.

There is only one effective way to prevent a fire from destroying your prison, and that would be to call in Firemen. However, the player can also use Sprinklers to prevent fire from spreading too quickly. When fire destroys a sprinkler, it will spread water around its area. This will also occur for any object that requires running water, like a Toilet or a Shower Head.

Tips

• A good strategy to use when a fire occurs is to immediately use the Bangup Emergency Action to secure your prisoners in their Cells. Then the firemen should be called in so that the fire can get taken care of before too much damage is caused.
• Remember, any walls, floors and utilities (pipes and electrical cables) that get destroyed needs to be replaced, and objects that get damaged must be repaired, which will cost some money. Also, room assignments have to be renewed after a fire destroyed parts of a room.
• It is often better to let firemen automatically tend fires, as you will need to start rebuilding or recovering your prison.
• Attempt to preserve essential parts of the prison, such as the Warden's Office, Canteen, and Kitchen by placing sprinklers early on, in case of a future fire.