go up in flames

1. Also, go up in smoke. Be utterly destroyed, as in This project will go up in flames if the designer quits, or All our work is going up in smoke. This idiom transfers a fire to other kinds of destruction. [Early 1900s]

Example Sentences

This week saw further conflict in the Middle East, MPs vote to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales, and another SpaceX rocket go up in flames.

From BBC

"The coastguard told me to put it next to the bins, not in it, because it stinks of fuel and they obviously don't want it to go up in flames if someone drops a cigarette end in there."

From BBC

We should not allow the story and wonder of Tommy Hawkins to go up in flames without a proper recounting.

From Los Angeles Times

To cast him as an apocalyptic wet blanket is a disservice to a writer remembered by friends and family as all heart — a man who had faith that while L.A. would eventually go up in flames, it would emerge from the ashes stronger than ever.

From Los Angeles Times

“How can a whole city just go up in flames in one night, and you lose everything that you struggled to hold on to?” said Martin, 64.

From Los Angeles Times