Thank you for playing!! I spent a lot of my last hours on the title screen haha but I'm really happy it's paying off.
The system that lowers your fire level only punishes stationary cars - so it softly encourages you to keep all cars moving rather than two queues at a time. But I admit it doesn't really impact until a bit into the level. I'd wanted to add some feedback that lets the player know that's happening, like the cars tooting in annoyance or something, but game jam be jamming!