This idea is spawned of “survival quest” concepts, where fire might be needed to see in a cave, burn down a blockade/overgrown passage, etc. AND ALSO, for those who might not want to play combat, but may totally be down to wave a fire-stick at a dog/monster to gain a little time to escape – to prevent players from not using weapons because the fire torch is easier, it could be that you cannot harvest/collect with the torch in hand… as a weapon it would be purely defense, for escape.
Though… with bottles, spirits/alcohol, and cloth/fabric… could be fun to have fire-bombs to work faster than a torch, to burn down a blockade/overgrowth, etc.
Just another idea! 