Fire!

Williams, 1987 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Fire! is a System 11A machine and a deliberate departure from the standard layout of its era. No pop bumpers. No drop targets. No lane change. Instead there is a burning building at the top, four banks of flame targets, two long ramps that climb until the ball nearly touches the glass, and a loop whose entrances raise and lower to route the ball three ways. Understanding those entrances is most of the game.

The skill shot lane

The shooter lane ends partway up the playfield at a one-way gate angled at about 45 degrees. Past it sit five rollover sensors and a standup at the far end, and their values are deliberately out of order: 20,000, then 10,000, then 30,000, then 100,000, then 5,000, with the standup worth a miserable 1,000. You score the highest sensor the ball crosses, so the target is the fourth — reach it, stall, and let the ball roll back into play. Overcook it and you get a thousand points.

There is a trick here with a real cost: plunge very lightly and the ball can trip the first sensor without clearing the gate, which then pushes it back for another go. It is only 20,000 a time, and every second in the lane is a second the current fire burns your bonus level down.

Putting out fires

This is the whole game. Flame targets light in groups of three, and every target in a group has to go out before the group counts as extinguished. Four banks of three exist: one on each small building flanking the ladder ramp, and one inside each of the two lock buildings halfway up the playfield. Any trip through the loop puts out one lit flame for free, which makes it the most efficient and safest way to work a group down.

What makes it urgent is the bonus level. A column runs 10x, 7x, 5x, 3x, 2x. At the start of a ball the 10x is blinking and the rest are solid. Dawdle over a fire and the 10x drops out, the 7x starts blinking, and so on down until you are getting nothing. Put the fire out and the timer resets with the column back at the top. Take too long and the machine lights a second group alongside the first — or, if you are lucky, relights the one you are already working on.

Reading the loop entrances

Both outer loop entrances raise and lower independently, and the combination decides where a ball ends up. Nothing on the playfield explains it.

Both entrances up — the starting position. A ball into the left comes out the right and vice versa, running the lower loop.
Both entrances down — the same behaviour, routed over the upper loop instead.
One up, one down — shoot the lowered side and the ball runs the top loop, crosses the raised entrance, and is dropped into a building and locked.
Shooting the raised side while the other is down just lets the ball back out again.

That third case is how locks happen. Put out every flame on the building you want to fill, and the loop entrance on the opposite side drops. Shoot up that far side, ride the top loop, and your fireman is trapped in the building you just cleared. This is where most players shoot the wrong hole — the entrance that opens is not the one next to the building.

The turnaround, the ladder and the fire plug

Behind the ladder ramp is a U-shaped turnaround with an entrance and insert lamp on each side. It is the most underrated shot here, because it does three jobs. Every pass raises the fire plug — a small post between the flippers that blocks the centre drain — for a few seconds. A pass from the lit side also raises the bonus level and puts the ladder up.

With the ladder flush, a centre shot bounces off a post and comes straight back. Raised, the same shot goes through the window into the building. It only stays up for an operator-set period, and the machine ticks the seconds off audibly while the rescue lamp flashes — that flashing is your clock, not decoration.

Multiball, the extra ball and the specials

With a ball locked in each building, both loop entrances come back up and the rescue lights come on. Run a ball through the lower loop to raise the ladder, then take the window shot to start it. Once you are in, put out every lit fire while at least two balls are still in play and the machine pays a million.

The extra ball is a two-stage ask. Go all the way up each of the two long side ramps once — the sensor is right at the top, so a weak shot does not register — and one of them will then light at random. Hit the target at the top of the lit ramp again and the extra ball is yours. Slingshot hits cycle which side carries the light, and which turnaround lamp is lit, so a rattle in the lower playfield can hand you the side you want.

Push the bonus level to 10x and take one more lit turnaround, and both outlanes light for special. On this machine, at that moment, draining is the correct play.

Goals in Fire!

Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.

The Skill Shot Lane skillshot · Medium

Five sensors sit past the shooter lane gate and they are deliberately out of order: 20,000, then 10,000, then 30,000, then 100,000, then 5,000. You score whichever is the highest one the ball rolls over, so the target is the fourth sensor and then a roll back into play.

Reward: 100,000 for a perfect plunge
The Gate Nudge secret · Hard

The one-way gate at the top of the shooter lane can be teased rather than cleared, which lets you score a sensor and keep the ball in the lane. It is a genuine trick with a genuine cost, and the cost is time.

Reward: A repeatable 20,000, or a blown skill shot
Putting Out Fires progression · Easy

This is the entire game. Flame targets light in groups of three and you have to hit all three to clear the group. A trip through the loop puts one lit target out for free, which makes the loop the most efficient shot on the playfield.

Reward: Fire points at your current bonus level
The Bonus Level Countdown multiplier · Medium

A column of multipliers runs 10x, 7x, 5x, 3x, 2x. At the start of a ball the 10x is blinking and the rest are solid. Take too long over a fire and the 10x drops out, the 7x starts blinking, and on down the column — so speed is worth more here than accuracy.

Reward: Up to 10x on the fire you put out
Reading The Loop Entrances strategy · Medium

Both loop entrances raise and lower, and the combination decides where your ball ends up. This is the mechanism the whole machine is built on, and it is not signposted anywhere on the playfield.

Reward: Control over locks and loop routing
Trapping The Firemen progression · Hard

Locks here are not a shot you can simply take. Put out every fire on the building you want to fill, and the loop entrance on the opposite side drops. Shoot up that side, ride the top loop, and your fireman is trapped in the freshly extinguished building.

Reward: One locked ball per building
The Window Shot strategy · Medium

With the ladder ramp flush, a centre shot bounces off a post and comes straight back. Raise the ladder and the same shot goes through the window instead. The ladder only stays up for an operator-set time, and the machine ticks the seconds off audibly.

Reward: Access to the building interior
Rescue Multiball multiball · Hard

With a ball locked in each building, both loop entrances come back up and the rescue lights come on. Run a ball through the lower loop to raise the ladder, then take the window to start it — and with two balls alive, clearing every lit fire pays a million.

Reward: A million points for a clean sweep
Save The Girl progression · Medium

The extra ball, and it is a two-stage ask. Go all the way up each of the two long side ramps once, and one of them will then light at random. Hit the target at the top of the lit one and the extra ball is yours.

Reward: An extra ball
Work The Turnaround strategy · Medium

The most underrated shot on the machine, because it does three jobs at once. Every pass raises the fire plug for a few seconds. A pass from the lit side also raises the bonus level and puts the ladder up for a window shot.

Reward: A ball save, a multiplier step and a raised ladder
Living Off The Fire Plug strategy · Easy

There is a small post between the flippers that pops up and blocks the centre drain. It is up at the start of every ball, which is the only reason the game is playable at all — the skill shot lane dumps the ball straight back down the middle.

Reward: Saved balls
Light The Outlane Specials secret · Hard

There is a reward for pushing the bonus level all the way to the top and then not stopping. Get to 10x and take one more lit turnaround, and both outlanes come on for special.

Reward: Special at both outlanes

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