diff --git a/mods/ITEMS/mcl_fire/init.lua b/mods/ITEMS/mcl_fire/init.lua
index 50303e3b2b..68e16bb231 100644
--- a/mods/ITEMS/mcl_fire/init.lua
+++ b/mods/ITEMS/mcl_fire/init.lua
@@ -28,7 +28,70 @@ local alldirs=
 	{ x = 0, y = 0, z = 1}
 }
 
+-- 3 exptime variants because the animation is not tied to particle expiration time.
+local smoke_pdef_base = {
+  amount = 0.5,
+  time = 0,
+  -- minpos = vector.add(pos, { x = -0.45, y = -0.45, z = -0.45 }),
+  -- maxpos = vector.add(pos, { x = 0.45, y = 0.45, z = 0.45 }),
+  minvel = { x = 0, y = 0.1, z = 0 },
+  maxvel = { x = 0, y = 1.4, z = 0 },
+  -- minexptime = ???,
+  -- maxexptime = ???,
+  minsize = 4.0,
+  maxsize = 5.0,
+  -- texture = "mcl_particles_smoke_anim.png^[colorize:#000000:???",
+  animation = {
+    type = "vertical_frames",
+    aspect_w = 8,
+    aspect_h = 8,
+    -- length = ???,
+  },
+  collisiondetection = true,
+}
+local smoke_pdef_cached = {}
 local spawn_smoke = function(pos)
+  local min = math.min
+  local new_minpos = vector.add(pos, { x = -0.45, y = -0.45, z = -0.45 })
+  local new_maxpos = vector.add(pos, { x = 0.45, y = 0.45, z = 0.45 })
+
+  -- populate the cache
+  if not next(smoke_pdef_cached) then
+    -- the last frame plays for 1/8 * N seconds, so we can take advantage of it
+    -- to have varying exptime for each variant.
+    local exptimes = { 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 }
+    local colorizes = { "178", "204", "243" }
+
+    local id = 1
+    for _,exptime in ipairs(exptimes) do
+      for _,colorize in ipairs(colorizes) do
+        smoke_pdef_base.minpos = new_minpos
+        smoke_pdef_base.maxpos = new_maxpos
+        smoke_pdef_base.maxexptime = exptime
+        smoke_pdef_base.animation.length = exptime + 0.1
+        smoke_pdef_base.minexptime = min(exptime, (7.0/8.0 * (exptime + 0.1) + 0.1))
+        smoke_pdef_base.texture = "mcl_particles_smoke_anim.png^[colorize:#000000:" ..colorize
+
+        smoke_pdef_cached[id] = table.copy(smoke_pdef_base)
+
+        mcl_particles.add_node_particlespawner(pos, smoke_pdef_cached[id], "high")
+
+        id = id + 1
+      end
+    end
+
+
+  -- cache already populated
+  else
+    for i, smoke_pdef in ipairs(smoke_pdef_cached) do
+      smoke_pdef.minpos = new_minpos
+      smoke_pdef.maxpos = new_maxpos
+      mcl_particles.add_node_particlespawner(pos, smoke_pdef, "low")
+    end
+  end
+
+--[[ Old smoke pdef
+  local spawn_smoke = function(pos)
 	mcl_particles.add_node_particlespawner(pos, {
 		amount = 0.1,
 		time = 0,
@@ -48,6 +111,8 @@ local spawn_smoke = function(pos)
 			length = 2.1,
 		},
 	}, "high")
+  -- ]]
+
 end
 
 --