How to Survive Fire and Lava

Why fire matters in 1.0

Drilling Thunder turned fire from a cosmetic campfire effect into a real destruction system. Campfires, explosions and lava now propagate through flammable blocks on the surface and underground. A single careless Cornade near a wooden farm wall can erase hours of work. Underground, lava pockets next to ore veins punish tunnelers who dig without a retreat plan.

This guide covers how fire spreads, which materials stop it, how to mine near lava safely, and how to rebuild after a burn.

How fire spreads

Fire needs a fuel block and an ignition source:

• Campfires and cook stations — leave them too close to wood or cardboard and they can catch neighbouring tiles.
• Explosions — Cornades, warehouse charges and vehicle crashes throw ignition into a radius.
• Lava — contacts flammable terrain and structures, then keeps burning through connected wood, cardboard and some plastic parts.

Metal, concrete-style blocks and most industrial scrap do not feed the spread. Claygun terrain can burn if it is treated as soft ground near lava — dig buffers with non-flammable walls before you expand a mine.

Safe base materials

For any permanent defensive base:

1. Outer shell in metal — scrap metal or painted metal panels on the raid-facing side.
2. Keep wood for interiors only — decorative floors and furniture behind a metal firewall.
3. Separate Cookbot and campfire rooms — a one-block metal gap stops most kitchen accidents.
4. Store Cornades and fuel away from farms — a raided ammo chest next to UV Grow Beds is a disaster waiting to happen.

Mini-farms on wood stilts look cool and burn spectacularly. Prefer metal frames for automated farming gantries.

Underground lava survival

The underground mining layer is full of lava lakes and thin crusts over magma. Rules that keep you alive:

• Scout with a torch and a vehicle before committing a long plasma trench. Lava below a thin floor is hard to see until you fall.
• Always dig a reverse ramp — if lava breaks in, you need a slope you can drive or walk without jumping into the pool.
• Wall off veins with metal before placing Ore Collectors next to glowing cracks.
• Watch health and oxygen — burns stack with thirst drain; keep Revival Burgers and water in the vehicle chest. See health, hunger and thirst.

Plasma Drill 3×3 cuts can open a lava pocket instantly. Drill one block, pause, listen for the lava audio cue, then continue.

Farms, vehicles and explosions

• Farms: wooden crop boxes next to roads attract both raids and stray Spud Launcher splash. Metal skirts around plots reduce fire from nearby fights.
• Vehicles: engines and thrusters do not usually start wildfires alone, but crashing a fuel-heavy creation into a wooden gate can. Park explosive loadouts outside the main hall.
• Cornades: great against Tapebot nests and warehouse doors — terrible indoors. Clear flammable clutter before you throw. Full loadouts: weapons.

After a fire

1. Extinguish or let the burn finish — do not rebuild into active flames.
2. Replace the outer ring with metal before restoring wood décor.
3. Move cook stations and ammo one room deeper.
4. If the underground elevator shaft burned, rebuild with metal struts before hauling ore again.

Related pages

• Underground mining
• Defensive base
• Weapons
• Updates — fire spread shipped with 1.0