“起烟”常见的英文表达有 “smoke rises” 、“smoke starts to appear” 或 “smoke begins to emerge” ，具体使用哪个取决于语境：
“smoke rises”： 强调烟从下往上升起的动态过程，比较简洁直观。例如：Fire broke out in the kitchen, and soon smoke rose from the window.（厨房着火了，很快烟就从窗户冒了出来。 ）
“smoke starts to appear”： 侧重于描述烟开始出现的这个起始状态。比如：As the fire spread, smoke started to appear in the distance.（随着火势蔓延，远处开始出现了烟。 ）
“smoke begins to emerge”： “emerge” 有“出现、显露”之意，该表达也用于描述烟开始出现的情形，和 “starts to appear” 意思相近。例如：After the explosion, smoke began to emerge from the ruins.（爆炸之后，废墟中开始冒出烟来。 ）