Content

• Part 2 of 4: Stack the wood
• Part 3 of 4: Make a Fire
• Part 4 of 4: Putting out the fire safely
• Tips

1 If possible, buy ready-made chopped firewood for increased safety. Ready-made chopped wood is ideal for use in home stoves and fireplaces, and is also a smart choice for outdoor campfires. Having a ready-to-use combustible material will save you the time and effort it might take to find suitable firewood in the forest. Firewood can usually be purchased in bags from large supermarkets or retail stores located near campgrounds.

• If you visit the territory of national parks or private tent camps, find out in advance whether you can use your own firewood or only purchased from them, whether it is allowed to collect firewood in the forest and whether there is a ban on making fires due to the increased fire hazard.

2 Use sawdust fuel briquettes for making an exclusively decorative fire. Fuel briquettes are made from a mixture of sawdust and paraffin, so that it is easy to light them and get a fire from a purely burning flame. The advantage of fuel briquettes is that they do not need additional material for ignition, they leave less ash after themselves, but at the same time they do not give as much heat as can be obtained from full-fledged firewood. To easily start a fire when you don't need to heat it, buy sawdust briquettes from the hardware store.

3 Find a fine, dry material that can be used as tinder to ignite natural wood. Tinder is a highly flammable material that helps light a fire. Gather small natural materials such as dry grass, leaves or bark, or use newspapers. If necessary, regular chips can be a great tinder if you're willing to sacrifice your snack for the fire.

4 Collect brushwood from dry, medium-sized branches. Brushwood is highly flammable from contact with burning tinder, but it is quite difficult to set it on fire without tinder. Look for small twigs and sticks or large pieces of bark. Make sure they are all completely dry.

• Large branches can be chopped up with an ax or cut into pieces with a knife to make firewood.

5 Collect firewood. The firewood should be such pieces of wood that will burn for a long time, thereby supporting the fire. Look for dry, brittle tree trunks of various diameters to gradually toss into the fire as needed. Different types of wood burn in different ways, so keep the facts in mind.

• Hardwoods (like oak and maple) take longer to catch fire, but also burn longer.
• Soft woods (like pine and cedar) ignite quickly and crackle in the fire due to the resins they contain.

Part 2 of 4: Stack the wood

1. 1 Prepare a fire site on a dry, clean surface. Choose a location that is at least 1.8m away from bushes, trees and hanging branches. Clear the area of ​​dry leaves, twigs and other materials that could ignite and cause fire to spread. Make sure to set up a fire on dry ground or prepare a stone fireplace for it.
   • Lay out a circle with a diameter of 0.9–1.2 m with large stones to cut off the area of ​​the fire in which you will start the fire.
   • Never make a fire closer than 1.8 m to your tent or shelter if you are spending the night outdoors.
2. 2 For simplicity, make a fire with crisscrossing wood. First place the tinder in the center of the hearth. Lay the crisscrossing branches of brushwood on top, and then repeat the same with the wood. Be sure to leave gaps between flammable materials to allow air circulation and oxygenate the fire.
3. 3 Fold the wood into a hut to make it easier to start a fire. Form a ball of tinder with a diameter of about 10 cm. Fold the brush around it with a hut, leaving one hole on the side. Cover the brushwood hut with a wood hut, leaving the hole in the same place so that you can light the fire later.
4. 4 Fold the wood into a well to make it easier to create the structure. Place the tinder in the center of the hearth, and then place the brushwood as a hut around it. Place two logs on the sides of the brushwood hut, then place two more logs across the first. Repeat the steps 2-3 more times to form a well of firewood.

Part 3 of 4: Make a Fire

1. 1 Use a lighter or matches if you have one. Light a match carefully, or turn on a lighter and hold a flame near the tinder to ignite it. For best results, light the tinder on multiple sides at once so that it burns well.
   • Blow gently on the lighted tinder to intensify the flames.
2. 2 Use flint and flint sparks as an all-weather alternative. Flint and flint is an excellent and durable all-weather alternative to matches and lighters.Bring the flint and flint close to the pile of tinder in the center of your fire. Hit the flint with the flint several times to shower the tinder with sparks and ignite it.
   • Flint and flint can be purchased at hardware, sports, travel, and online stores.
3. 3 Make a homemade friction fire-maker. Take a pocket knife or other sharp tool and use it to groove in a flat piece of dry wood. Take another dry stick or twig and start rubbing the end of the stick back and forth in the groove to create friction and cause heat to escape. After a few minutes, the frictional heat will intensify and ignite the wood chips generated during operation.

Part 4 of 4: Putting out the fire safely

1. 1 Start putting out the fire 20 minutes before the appointed time. The complete extinguishing of the flame takes time. It is dangerous to throw a fire without properly extinguishing it. Think in advance about when you will put out the fire so that you have enough time for it. If you need to leave the campfire site at a certain time, set the alarm on your cell phone 20 minutes before that, so as not to forget about the time.
2. 2 Fill the fire with water. Tilt the bucket of water and fill the coals with water in small portions. Do this carefully and gradually. A canister or large bottle or other container of water will also help you pour water evenly over the fire pit.
   • Do not fill the fire with water if you are going to re-light it in a short time, this may make the prepared hearth unusable for further use.
3. 3 While pouring water over the coals, stir them with a stick or shovel. Be sure to wet all the coals of the fireplace while stirring and pouring water over them. Use a stick or metal shovel to stir the coals. Work carefully and keep stirring the coals until the flame is completely out.
4. 4 Make sure that steam and heat are no longer emanating from the fire and that no crackling sound can be heard. Move your hand to the fireplace to make sure it has cooled down. If you don't feel the warmth, chances are the fire is completely extinguished. Additionally, check for steam and hissing sounds, which indicate the presence of embers still present.
   • If all of the above signs are absent, you can safely leave the parking lot.

Tips

• Keep at least one bucket of water handy to put out a fire.
• Never leave a burning fire unattended.