Building a fire can mean the difference between a freezing overnight stay in the woods and a warm and toasty night around a campfire. Knowing how to build a fire is a handy skill to have, whether you apply some of the following techniques to the fire in your fireplace, an outdoor grill, or a campsite. Impromptu or planned, wet or dry, knowing how to build a fire, in some cases, will save your life.

How Fire Works

When building a fire, it helps to have a basic understanding of the science behind the event. In the simplest terms, when you add heat to fuel, a gas is produced. When this gas hits the oxygen in the air, it burns. Fire is created.

There are three elements necessary to make and maintain a fire: air, heat, and fuel. Without any one of these, the fire will not burn. There is a certain ratio of each of these ingredients, but the only way to learn it is to build fires.

Fire Building Materials

The following three materials are needed to build a fire:

• Tinder
  • Dry material which needs only a spark to start a fire.
  • Must be completely dry to respond to heat.
  • Includes some types of tree bark, wood shavings, dead plant matter, straw, sawdust, dead pine needles, rotten tree trunks, pine knots, down feathers, down seed heads, lint, cotton, gunpowder, wax paper, charred cloth, dried vegetable fibers, paper, and bamboo shavings.
• Kindling
  • Readily combustible material.
  • Added to burning tinder to increase fire’s temperature so that it will light less combustible materials.
  • Must be totally dry to ensure rapid burning.
  • Many parks and wilderness areas don’t allow patrons to gather fallen material because of its important role in the ecosystem.
  • Includes twigs, small pieces of wood, split wood, thick cardboard, and oil or gas soaked wood.
• Fuel
  • Less combustible material that burns slow and steady once lit.
  • Includes dry wood and branches, dried insides of tree trunks, finely split green wood, twisted dried grass, dry peat, dried animal poo, animal fat, coal, and oil.

Where to Build A Fire

It’s important that you choose the safest area possible for your campfire. Look for an area that is as sandy or rocky as possible and near sand or water in case you need to extinguish the fire in a hurry. Also, choose a location convenient to a supply of fuel for easy fire upkeep. The driest area possible is recommended. Also choose a site that will be close enough to where you will be camping to be effective.

If everywhere around you is wooded or covered in vegetation, clear away all plant material and scrape the dirt until it is completely clear of any flammable matter. The cleared area should be at least 3 or 4 feet in diameter to avoid spreading the fire. Don’t build a fire up against a boulder or other large rocks that are apart of the landscape. It will only blacken the rocks without adding any extra protection against the spread of fire.

If you can, build a sort fire wall in the middle of the circle you cleared with logs or grapefruit-sized rocks. This will direct the heat where you need it most and reduce the risk of flying sparks as well as the amount of wind blowing the fire. You need some wind to provide the needed air, but not so much that it blows sparks beyond the cleared area. However, don’t use wet or porous rocks as they might explode after soaking up the heat from the fire.

When you are on the trail or scouting out the perfect campsite, there are a few questions to ask yourself:

• What are the terrain and climate like, and how will they affect the fire?
• What materials and tools do you have to build this fire and will their usefulness be affected by where you build it?
• How much time do you have to build your fire before it gets dark?

Occasionally, an underground fireplace will best serve you as it conceals the fire and works well for cooking food. To build what is sometimes called a Dakota fire hole, dig two holes—one main hole in which you will build the fire and, for ventilation, one large connecting hole on the upwind side of the original.

Material Placement

Depending on which materials you have, the climate and terrain you are dealing with, and your specific need for the fire (warmth or cooking), you have many techniques to choose from when arranging your materials. In general, all of the following techniques start with a small pile of kindling, loosely stacked so that air can feed the flames. As the flames get stronger, add bigger and bigger branches and logs. Remember to leave space between them for the air.

There are many more options than the following to choose from, but these are common, work well in many situations, and are simple.

• Tepee: Using your tinder material, build a tepee structure. When you light the center, the tinder will fall inward and feed the fire. Even wet wood, burns well with this technique.
• Lean-To: At a 30-degree angle, put a green stick into the ground with its end pointing in the direction of the wind. Put tinder as far under the stick as possible and lean kindling against it as well. Light the tinder. As the kindling catches fire, add bigger and bigger branch pieces and logs.
• Cross-Ditch: Scrape an ‘x’ about a foot across in the dirt. Dig the ‘x’ about 3 inches deep. In the middle of the cross, stuff as much tinder as possible. Above that, build tepee of kindling. Light the tinder. The ditch lets air move beneath the tinder, bringing oxygen to feed the flames.
• Pyramid:Put two small logs, sticks, or branches parallel to each other in the dirt and a layer of small logs across them. Add three or four more layers of logs or branches, making each layer smaller than the one beneath and placed at right angles to each other. On top of the pyramid, build a fire with tinder and kindling. The fire will burn downward, allowing you a fire that won’t require attention for an extended period.

Lighting A Fire

Like the placement of materials, there are a multitude of ways to light a fire. The one you choose depends on your situation and your materials. There are many more ways than the following, but these are common and work well.

• Waterproof, strike-anywhere matches: The best! Be sure to store them in a waterproof container anyway.
• Regular matches: Stored in a waterproof container along with a striker pad, these are better than nothing. Waterproof them by dipping them in nail polish beforehand.
• Cigarette lighter: Works with or without fuel.
• Flint and steel: Aim the sparks created by scraping one against another at a pile of tinder. The steel must be carbon steel, not stainless steel. The flint can be replaced with any hard, sharp, rock edged item you can find.
• Battery: Used to ignite a gasoline soaked rag, depending on the type of battery. To create the spark, attach a wire to each terminal. Touch the ends of the bare wires together next to the tinder so that when it sparks, the tinder pile will catch it and flame.
• Magnifying glass, camera lens, binocular lens, or any convex glass: When sun rays are concentrated through a convex lens before they hit the tinder, heat is created that allows the tinder pile to smolder. Blow or fan the tinder to help it flame.
• Fire plow: This is the one that you’ve seen on old Westerns. Rub a stick of hard wood against a base of soft wood, pressing hard. Heat is generated by friction and the scraping produces small flecks of wood. The two together create a spark. This takes practice, hard work, and persistence. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.

Building A Fire When It’s Wet Outside

The worst enemy of fire is wood that is too wet to catch flame. One way to combat this is to carry a few dry branches with you at all times in a watertight container. Soak them in gasoline and they will get the fire started.

Trying to build a fire in the snow is a challenge, too. The best thing to do to create dry base is use green logs. It is easy to break tree trunks that are about 2 to 3 inches in diameter in extreme cold. Lay several of these logs side by side on top of the snow. Add 1 or 2 more layers at right angles to the layer beneath. Lay your fuel soaked twigs on top and light. The fire will burn down.

Properly Extinguishing a Fire

You absolutely must make sure your fire is completely out before you leave. As the fire begins to go out, push everything that is burning into a pile. This will help ensure that it all burns up; you don’t want to leave chunks of charred wood. Ashes only. The goal is to leave the campsite looking as if no one had been there.

The fire should be cold to the touch when you leave. This means, you should be able to touch the ground with your bare hands. Here are a few methods to hurry the process along:

• Water – Never pour water on a burning fire. Flick the water with your fingers over the fire instead. Stir the dampened burning pieces with a stick. Break the biggest pieces with the stick and turn smoldering pieces. Repeat this process until nothing is burning and the ashes are completely cold to the touch.
• Sand – The sand or dirt should have no flammable material in it. Stir it into the fire, separating all the burning materials. Scrape large pieces with a stick. Repeat until all the embers are out and cold.

Helpful Tips

• Choose good, dry tinder.
• Shield matches from the wind.
• Use pieces of fuel that are not so large that they put out the flames.
• Burn only seasoned hard wood.
• Collect kindling and tinder on your way to the campsite.
• Coat the tinder with insect repellent as an accelerator.
• Dense, dry firewood burns slow and hot. Wet wood creates thick smoke.
• Damp firewood can be dried near the fire.
• Bank the fire to keep the coals alive overnight.
• Allow the fire to breathe by leaving spaces between the wood.
• Always light your fire from the upwind side.

Fire Safety

• Set up your tent 15 to 20 feet upwind from your fire.
• Should your tent catch fire, be prepared to cut your way out.
• Never use lanterns or camp stoves inside your tent; only flashlights.
• Keep children away from all fires.
• Acquire a burn permit if necessary.
• A fire extinguisher, water, or sand should be at the ready.
• Extinguish all flames before going to bed.
• Be sure the area around your fire is clear of dead plant matter.
• Remember to stop-drop-and-roll to put out clothing fires.
• Make sure no flammable materials, such as tree branches, are above the fire.
• Do not build fires in strong winds.
• Use caution at all times. Shirts catch fire easily.