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In the novel fires are at first thought to be accidents or arson. It turns out that any computer (the payroll program, the computer operated camera shooting spaceship models in an effects house) that stumbles across this number (20-30 digits but with no zeroes) will ... I don't remember exactly ... summon a fire spirit?

One of the clues was an ancient manuscript that when scanned started a fire. The concept of 'zero' coming after it was written.

I want to say the date of the novel was the 1980s.

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  • Positional notation without zero? How does that work?
    – user14111
    Commented Sep 10, 2015 at 16:16
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    @Jayessell I've set a bounty on your question. If you remember any additional details, now would be a good time to add them.
    – SQB
    Commented Sep 25, 2015 at 8:15
  • The SCP-033 entry in the SCP Foundation website (containing short writeups about mysterious phenomenon that the Foundation is trying to keep secure) is related. It's not a novel, and it isn't specifically stated to cause "fire", but it's about a similarly dangerous number, one that is dangerous especially together with computers. scp-wiki.net/scp-033
    – b_jonas
    Commented Sep 25, 2015 at 10:59
  • That's not it,but it is similar concept... a number with a physical effect.
    – Jayessell
    Commented Sep 26, 2015 at 22:36
  • π (pi) is a 1998 movie where the protagonist discovers the name of God, the Tetragrammaton as a number, which (IIRC)creates insects and sets fire to his computer, but as far as I know it isn't based on a story...
    – Vogie
    Commented Oct 1, 2015 at 20:15

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Could it be Cyber Way by Alan Dean Foster?

There's an (Apache?) sandpainting that contains some sort of quantum algorithm. When the main characters run it through a piece of image analysis software, it causes a police station to burn down. The villain later uses it to summon some sort of coyote-demons.

cover of _Cyber Way_ by Alan Dean Foster

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