Fire dove

Quote:

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The pursuers were no more than a hundred meters from where the ravine began. The buggy wouldn't be able to follow, but the horses could give them a dangerous chase. He couldn't see anything. The fire doves were nearly down now. It would be a few minutes before other bright ones rose to replace them.

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Is "fire doves" a synonym for torches ?

Edit: or flares ?

Possibly- I found this photo called 'fire dove':
Fire dove - tribe.net

Thx for the research Tdol, but I hardly can imagine the posse hiring a circus artist to shed light during a persuit.:lol:

It obviously has something to do with terrain lightening.
I think we have a case of poetic licence here. ;-)

btw. can I use "shed light" in this context?