Fire (The X-Files)

"Fire" is the twelfth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on December 17, 1993. It was written by series creator Chris Carter, directed by Larry Shaw and featured guest appearances by Mark Sheppard and Amanda Pays. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Fire" earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.8, being watched by 6.4 million households in its initial broadcast; and received mostly positive reviews from critics.

The show centers on FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully are visited by a Metropolitan Police detective who studied at Oxford University with Mulder; and who enlists their aid with a case involving a serial killer capable of pyrokinesis.

Due to its premise, the episode required a number of dangerous fire stunts to be performed. In one notable scene, Mulder and the antagonist Cecil L'Ively (Sheppard) face off at opposite ends of a corridor, with L'Ively setting the entire hallway ablaze. Due to the intense heat featured in the scene, Sheppard had to duck out of the shot to shield himself from injury; that said, during production, the only injury sustained on set occurred when Duchovny burned his hand, which left a small permanent scar. The character Phoebe Green, played by Pays, was initially considered for a recurring role, but this episode remains her sole appearance.