Heats drink while describing auction of bankrupt person's assets (4,4)

I believe the answer is:

fire sale

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'while describing auction of bankrupt person's assets' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'heats drink' is the wordplay.
'heats' becomes 'fires' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'drink' becomes 'ale' (type of beer).
'fires'+'ale'='FIRE SALE'

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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