Starting a Fire

Starting a fire is a part of everyday life where I live. Temperatures in the winter regularly dip way below 0°F and my only heat source is a wood burning stove. It's a necessity for me to know how to start a fire - not an option. Starting a fire is the first thing I do on most winter mornings, and if I didn't know how to start a fire, a good fire, I'd likely freeze to death this winter.

Knowing how to start a fire requires that you know the basics of fire itself. Starting a fire requires only three things: fuel, oxygen and heat. These three elements of fire come in many forms and at many levels. Using each of them properly assures great success every time you initiate the process of starting a fire.

Let's start with the fuel - the critical element. Wood is the basic fuel for fires. When starting a fire, you should select dry wood. The smaller the pieces of dry wood, the more surface area there will be and the easier it will be to start your fire. This wood is most often referred to as "kindling."

Wet wood, also called green wood, is great for an already started fire, but not at all desirable for starting a fire. Part of knowing how to start a fire, is knowing how to select the best wood for the task. Kindling should be lightweight, short and seem brittle. Green wood is heavier, does not split as well and lacks the brittle feel of wood that has lost its sap.

When starting a fire, use a hatchet to split small slivers from your driest pieces. The pieces should also be short - six inches is great. Your fireplace or stove will surely hold bigger pieces, but for starting a fire we want to build a nice, hot, small area upon which to build our roaring masterpiece.

You can crumple up old newspapers and place them together in the center of the area where you will be starting a fire. You can also use fatwood to make the base for the kindling. Fatwood quickly ignites with a lighter. Strips of torn cardboard work very well, too. This fuel is what you'll use a match or lighter to ignite under your kindling.

Pro Tip: If you want faster, cleaner results when you're starting a fire, I highly recommend purchasing a small propane torch and a 14.1 ounce bottle of propane. These are available at hardware stores for a nominal cost. (I like the Bernzomatic Propane Torch Kit, which sells for around $17.00.) They'll ensure fast, clean, trouble-free fire starting and save money over constantly repurchasing fatwood. You also won't have to stack old newspapers in the room, and your kindling can be slightly larger and also a bit greener.

Take your kindling and place it on top of the newspaper, fatwood or cardboard. Build a teepee with the kindling, or a small platform: 6-8" tall. Don't pack the kindling together too tightly. We'll want oxygen to reach the inside of the tiny wood structure you've just built.

Now that we have the fuel, the next necessary element for starting a fire is heat. (I hope you bought the torch I recommended.) Use a lighter or match to start papers or fatwood under the kindling. Or, use your propane torch to ignite the kindling directly, which only takes about 15-seconds. BE CAREFUL with the propane near the fire! FYI: The bottle of propane will ignite hundreds of awesome fires.

If your small kindling fire starts to wane, add some more paper at the lowest places. Your kindling wood must ignite and flame. This is not a problem if you used a torch - the kindling wood will be in flames in less than three minutes.

Once you have flame, start adding gradually larger pieces of wood to your fire. You're still starting a fire, so use small, dry pieces. Remember the fire needs oxygen, and you do not want to place your successively larger pieces of wood in such a manner as they block the flow of air to the fire. If you use a wood stove, leave the door cracked and the dampener fully open.

Once you have a good base of small pieces of wood and flames, start adding your larger pieces of firewood. Place them carefully so as not to smother the flames. Yes, we're still starting a fire - not tending to one.

At this point, if the place where you are starting a fire is large enough, place a good sized piece of wood in front of or to the side of the flame base - an inch or so away from the flames. This wood will start heating and getting closer to combustion. Once your fire is good and hot, use your tools to move the pre-heated log onto the fire. It will flame up quite quickly.

The final step to starting a fire is to use a tool to spread the base around a bit, and add your firewood as appropriate. The hotter the fire, the bigger and greener the firewood can be. If you use a wood stove, and the flames are blowing around inside the firebox, close the door. This better directs the heat upwards to your firewood.

Pro Tip: Hatchet-splitting even the driest of firewood pieces can be tough. Instead, visit your local lumber yard and ask for scraps from near the cutting areas. They will also have pieces of wood that were cracked or otherwise not suitable for sale. Cut these into 6" pieces and they'll split with almost no effort at all. Be sure you go get this kiln dried kindling during the summer months. Come winter, everyone will be down there scavenging.

Now you know how to start a fire. So grab some marshmallows and go enjoy the one you just built!