Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Keep a fire burning outdoors
• Method 2 of 3: Keep a fire burning in the rain
• Method 3 of 3: Keep a fire going indoors
• Tips
• Warnings

Making a fire on a camping trip or in the fireplace can be a cozy and good way to heat your camp or home in a natural way. When your fire starts to burn low, you can easily rekindle it and keep it burning by adding materials such as kindling and firewood.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Keep a fire burning outdoors

1. Collect tinder and kindling. These are small pieces of wood and rope or paper to easily light your fire. Tinder is the material that burns easily, even with just a small spark, igniting the fire. Kindling wood is a bit more substantial and will keep your fire going. You need both to make a good fire.
   • Good tinder materials: newspaper, cotton balls and toilet paper work well, if you have them at your campsite. If you need more natural materials, try dry leaves, the fluff from cattail and birch bark.
   • Good kindling: dry twigs and thin pieces of wood, such as sticks and broken branches. Dry leaves also work well.
   • Sustaining the fire is a cycle. Start with the tinder, then add kindling and then firewood as well. To keep your fire from going out, you have to keep repeating the process.
2. Use dry firewood. All the wood you use to light your fire must be completely dry. If there is still moisture in the wood, it will be more difficult to start the fire. You may end up with a lot of smoking wood. If dry wood is not available, use extra tinder and kindling to fight off any moisture.
   • Do not use wood from freshly cut trees. This still contains a lot of water and will not contribute to a prolonged fire.
   • Dried firewood is best because it has been left to dry outside for several months or years. If firewood is properly dried, it will quickly catch fire and burn for a long time.
   • If you're outdoors or on a camping site, look for naturally fallen wood or find an old tree to cut down. Look for oak and beech, for example, these are good hardwoods that heat well, but also burn for a long time.
3. Start with softwood and keep burning with hardwood. Weigh the pros and cons of soft and hardwood against each other. Softwoods are good for starting a fire, and hardwoods will help keep the fire going.
   • Softwoods, such as pine and spruce, are easier to light but burn quickly. If you're trying to keep a low burning fire going, add softwood to get a bigger flame quickly.
   • Hardwood is harder to burn at the beginning, but lasts a very long time and burns with more heat.
   • One solution to keeping your fire burning is to light your fire with softwood and then switch to hardwood when you have a good, stable flame with some embers.
4. Add oxygen to fan your flames. Make sure your fire is adequately ventilated. This can be done by making the fire on top of a grate, if you have one. Place some paper (such as newspaper) in the center of your fire pit, on top of the grate, before placing the wood on top.
   • Stack the fresh firewood with plenty of space between the blocks to get adequate ventilation.
   • Regularly add more tinder and kindling to the open spaces between your logs.
   • Blow on the fire. This is especially useful if you've just started the fire and want to make it bigger.
   • If you need to quickly restart a fire that has gone out, gather all the embers together. Use your embers as a bed to lay on more tinder and kindling. Then when you see a starting flame appear, add more wood. Use softwood for this if possible.

Method 2 of 3: Keep a fire burning in the rain

1. Start small. If it is raining or has recently rained and you don't have dry firewood, you can still make a fire. It does take more effort and patience.
   • Concentrate on making a small fire in a small area of ​​your fire pit. The larger the wet area and material, the more difficult it will be to create enough heat for a long lasting fire.
   • Use extra tinder and kindling. Do not try to set fire to the entire log right away. Work on building a good flame with paper sticks.
   • Birch trees have good bark that burns quickly even when it rains. This is because the bark contains natural oils that repel moisture.
   • If you can, put a tarp or something else over your fire to block the rain. You have to make sure that it hangs high enough to prevent it from melting or catching fire.
2. Wrap your wood in a towel before attempting to burn it. Use a dry towel, or dry clothing, to wrap all firewood and fuel materials. Pat the wood dry as best you can and try to absorb and remove as much moisture as possible.
   • If you suspect it is going to rain, get a container before you go out and fill it with dry twigs, cones and pine needles. A tin food container is great for storing firelighters and will keep it dry.
   • If you are making a fire outside, it is always a good idea to have extra firewood that you keep wrapped to protect them in case of rain.
3. Use smaller logs, sticks, and anything else you can find and use. A group of smaller logs and kindling is easier to light than one large log. In addition, you can try to light anything that is burning to get your fire going.
   • Water-resistant matches, a lighter or flint and steel are your best options for creating spark and flame.
   • In an emergency, food that contains a lot of carbohydrates can also be used as fuel. Foods such as chocolate and marshmallows work well.
   • If you have a cleaver, or something else, to split logs, use it. Chop logs in half to expose the dry area. Stand the logs upright with the dry bark facing the flame.

Method 3 of 3: Keep a fire going indoors

1. Remove any excess ash from the fireplace before lighting a fire. There should always be an inch of ash, which will help protect the bottom of the fire pit and will also aid in the trapping of embers and radiating heat.
   • Excess ash on the bottom of your fireplace can build up and prevent new material from burning quickly enough and well enough.
   • Excess ash can also be a potential health hazard.
2. Stoke your fire regularly. If the fire appears to be going out, use a long stick or poker to move the wood. You also need to blow on the wood to give it a dose of oxygen. Keep working on the fire until it appears to be stable again. If you don't pay attention to the fire, it will go out.
   • Use your poker to keep the coals together. Red, hot coals burn very hot and will produce enough heat to quickly ignite tinder, kindling, and softwood. Coals get hotter as you scrape them together in the fire, they will give off a lot of heat for a very long time.
   • While the wood burns to coal, you can make the coals glow by moving them with the poker and blowing air on them. Then add a little more tinder, kindling and firewood.
3. Add kindling and tinder regularly. When building a fire in the house, parts of the logs may not get hot enough to catch fire. To keep your fire burning longer, regularly add kindling and tinder before adding firewood to create more flame and heat, which helps the wood catch fire.
   • If you have a raised grate in your fireplace, place your kindling and tinder under the grate so the flames can rise up towards the logs.
   • If you don't have space under your logs, push the firelighters between the logs with a poker.
4. Add hardwood. Place new logs on the fire in such a way that the fire can continue to breathe. You don't want to extinguish the fire you already have.
   • Larger blocks of hardwood are good for maintaining an already burning fire. If the fire is hot enough, it won't take long for the hardwood to catch fire.
   • When your fire goes out, put some blocks of softwood on your fire to quickly get a bigger flame.

Tips

• Never burn:
  • Cans
  • Plastic bottles
  • Car tires
  • Candy wrappers
  • Treated wood
  • Freshly cut wood
• You can use inflammatory gels. This is a kindling liquid in gel form, based on chemicals. You just smear it on the firewood and light it, the fire will burn intensely for a few minutes. This is a good way to start your fire. Petroleum jelly works surprisingly well for this too.

Warnings

• Before making a fire indoors, always check that the chimney is fully open.
• Never leave a fire unattended.
• Always be careful when handling fire.
• Know how to put out a fire, report a fire, and use a fire extinguisher.