I got confused by the extinguish mechanic because I was taking damage while trying to learn it, so I was too panicked to tell how long I needed to extinguish for. Also, it took so much of my health to extinguish that I couldn't find a way to heal in time for the next thing i had to extinguish.
But I do LOVE this idea - it's a neat twist on the katamari-style "collect things and get bigger" mechanic!