Faced with the terror of an unnatural fire striking the camp, mass panic erupts among the Israelites. This sudden disaster triggers a chain reaction of desperate cries, prayer, and ultimately, a profound miracle.
In their distress, the people direct their cries to Moses rather than appealing straight to God. There are several reasons for this indirect approach. One perspective suggests that the people felt an overwhelming sense of shame for their actions and preferred to rely on a mediator rather than face God directly [שפתי כהן]. This dynamic is much like a prince who, having angered his royal father, seeks out the king's closest friend to advocate on his behalf [רש״י, מזרחי, שפתי חכמים, אבן עזרא]. Alternatively, the cries may not have come from the sinners at all. Instead, the innocent members of the camp, struck with anxiety at the sight of the miraculous punishment, may have been the ones pleading with Moses to pray for their safety [ביאור יש״ר, מלבי״ם, שטיינזלץ]. A completely different approach views the appeal to Moses as a calculated tactic. The people assumed Moses was unaware of their sin and hoped he would mistake the fire for a sudden natural disaster, such as an earthquake or an underground eruption. By doing so, they believed he would pray for them with complete innocence [כלי יקר].
Moved by the cries of the people, Moses intercedes. While his response is an act of prayer, there is an interpretation suggesting that his words were actually quite harsh and directed against heaven. In this view, his prayer acts as a prelude to the severe complaints and frustrations he will soon express to God regarding the burden of leading the nation [תורה תמימה].
God immediately answers the prayer of Moses, and the fire subsides. At a basic level, the flames simply extinguish and stop spreading [אבן עזרא, בכור שור, רש ר הירש]. However, the primary approach among commentators emphasizes that the way the fire died down was an open miracle that entirely defied the laws of nature. Rather than rising upward as flames naturally do, the fire sank and was swallowed directly into the earth exactly where it burned [רש״י, ספורנו, תולדות יצחק, משכיל לדוד].
This unnatural sinking served several vital purposes. First, it prevented an even greater catastrophe; had the fire been blown away by the wind, it would have consumed everything in its path [רש״י]. Second, the manner in which the fire disappeared proved beyond any doubt that its removal was a divine miracle brought about by the prayer of Moses, eliminating any chance of dismissing the event as a passing natural phenomenon [ספורנו, משכיל לדוד]. Furthermore, burying the fire in the ground instilled a lasting sense of awe and fear in the camp. The fire was not completely gone, but rather remained hidden as a constant, underlying threat. If the Israelites were to sin again, God would not need to perform a new miracle to punish them. He would simply withdraw His miraculous intervention, allowing the buried fire to return to its natural state, rise, and burn them [שפתי חכמים, תולדות יצחק, מלבי״ם, שפתי כהן]. Finally, another tradition adds that this sunken fire did not return to heaven. Instead, it entered the Tabernacle, serving as the very fire that consumed the sacrifices offered by the Israelites throughout their journeys in the desert [שפתי כהן].