You don't need a fancy ray gun to start a brushfire. In 1978, someone following a plan cooked up in a publication called the Anarchist Cookbook created a do-it-yourself time bomb by lighting a cigarette, placing into a book of matches, and then stuffing the cigarette and match book into a Dixie cup which he then tossed into a dry bush at the edge of Whizzin's Shopping Center in Agoura, Calif.
The arsonist then went on his merry way as the cigarette slowly burned down and was long gone when the flame reached the matches and ignited them. The flame from the matches ignited the Dixie cup, and the burning cup ignited the bush. The resulting brushfire, fanned by Santa Ana winds, then burned all the way to the Pacific Ocean, about 15 miles away, and destroyed dozens of homes and other structures.
Old technology. I believe current cigs go out quickly if left to burn - probably a new regulation to protect druggies falling asleep while smoking.