Hey, I used the Add mode in the example but you may use another one. just highlight your layer and hit Shift & + to cycle trough the different transfer modes. You could also just reduce the opacity of your layer.
The Ripple effect animates automatically but you can control the speed by altering the Wave Speed value.
Hey Serge. Thanks for accepting my friend request! I saw a reply that you made in 2004 (yeah! that was a long time ago!) regarding fire in ae. You suggested to take a solid, mask & feather it, apply Ripple effect, and change the transfer mode. My question is what transfer mode do you change it to? And also, what do you animate in order to give it that wavy-fire look? Here's the link to your original answer: http://forums.creativecow.net/archivepost/2/526404
Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope to hear back from you shortly.