Fire, in the spiritual sense, can mean either love or hatred depending on the context, just as natural fire can be either comforting in keeping you warm, or scary in burning down your house. Our language reflects this, too -- we use concepts like a smoldering hatred or a burning love. So fire signifies a love, either a good love of the neighbor and to the Lord, or, in a bad sense, selfish love of oneself that, if unchecked by conscience, leads to hatred of anyone that opposes it.

92. Other prostitutes who could steal men by tricks unknown in the world, driving them into their proprium by praises and by drowning their minds in themselves; and because the men were then without protection from the Lord, they were attracted to these women these women were cast into a place as it were burning with brimstone and fire, or so it appeared. They lived in the south-west region; and similar men were cast into a gloomy abyss close under the lake of the women. The women bewitch men, and the men women, by diabolical tricks, which are numerous. It is not permitted to enumerate them.