Particle System as Light Source

High, all.

I have a question regarding using particles of a particle system as light sources. I used a particle system to create a flamethrower effect with a flame that changes length periodically over its lifetime. I want to make it so that any walls or objects that the flame comes close to are lit by the flame.

I would place point lights along the length of the flame if it was fixed in size, but like I said, the length of the flame varies. It seems that spawning a point light for each particle in a script is a really poor way to accomplish what I am looking for.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.