This image was not really meant to be a 3D Artwork, it was solely planned and produced for my website layout as a seamless background.
I think it took two months from ideas, sketches to actual modeling. I used everything here: Maya (for Fire, Skeleton Rigging, Scene, Lights, Render), Adobe After Effects for Fire Animation (check my website for the animated version), Adobe Flash to publish the animations, and Adobe Photoshop for post production.