This may be more of a research question, but it also involves some creativity. I have a scene where two characters are fighting. During this conflict, some clothing of a third character catches on fire somehow. This may be as a result of the conflict, or fire may already be present in the environment. The two characters fighting are not human, they are better described as monsters. They cannot produce fire, but have access to other powers. The third character is a human. The setting is 1:30 am outside in an urban setting - streets, cars, alleys, etc. The fire does not have to be large. It just has to catch some clothing on fire. So it may be just a spark. I simply do not know enough about objects in this environment to be sure how a fire could realistically start. For example, could a street light be damaged in the struggle that shoots sparks and starts the fire? Also, I could move these characters from the outside to an interior environment. I was thinking a church perhaps. It would be a good setting, and there could be some lit candles. (I'm not sure what kind of church is open at 1:30 am and has lit candles) Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.
"Also, I could move these characters from the outside to an interior environment. I was thinking a church perhaps. It would be a good setting, and there could be some lit candles. (I'm not sure what kind of church is open at 1:30 am and has lit candles)" The candles from the church igniting a pile of trash outside could work... Perhaps after the "fighters" crashed over a small table (I've no idea what it would be called in religious-speak) with lit candles that is in front of a HUGE stained glass window. Both crash through the window and voila'! Candle(s) come with, fire is started! As far was why a church is open with lit candles at 1:30 a.m. ... a memorial is lit in the honor of a neighborhood hero, kid, cop, etc. that was tragically killed recently. I don't know; it's your story... Hope this helped!
Thanks. That's pretty good. But if I'm going to have the fight move into a church, then I don't need to get the fire back outside. So the candles will suffice. I forgot to mention that no one else can be present in the scene. So it's a little odd to have lit candles in an empty church. But I suppose it is passable.
Well, I'm glad I could help! ~ You may consider having the priest walk in during the commotion, though. I added a surprised "extra" character to a sniper shot in one of my stories just to add a bit more flavor to the scene. I can almost see that character trying to explain what he saw to his buddies later on!
Here's another idea. It's late... you are in an urban setting. Perhaps it's somewhat cold too. I've heard of homeless people at night using a trashcan to start a fire to keep warm. Obviously as soon as the fight starts between two monsters they are thinking "I gotta get the hell out of here."... or maybe they left for another reason. It would be easy enough to have one of the monsters accidentally fling the human into the garbage can. Or... if the monsters are strong enough, I'm sure you could mash up a car... gasoline spills everywhere and then later on someone breaks a street light... a spark hits the pool of gasoline and starts a fire.
Cars can set on fire if damaged. This could be damage during the fight with one of the characters being thrown onto a car or if their powers can damage a car enough. Also, you could have the wires in the bottom of a street lamp exposed and sparking, but this may all rely on a little too much coincidence and this may take away some real conflict in the novel. It may be a good idea to set it in the church and have one of the characters accidentally set the human's clothes on fire with the candles, allowing for some emotional conflict with the character feeling guilty (if they are friends with the human).
A downed power line, a little motor oil in the street... Or a tipped over motorcycle, cracking open the fuel tank, and a hot muffler or sparks from metal hitting pavement, and you have a fire.
