Sucessful Fire Building

Building a fire, whether in a hobo stove, on a beach, or in the woods requires fuel, oxygen, and a source of ignition.

If you take away any of those three things fire won't happen.

If your fuel becomes inoperable, like wood becoming soaked in water, or liquid fuels becoming diluted with non flammable substance, ignition and subsequent heat will be very difficult if, not impossible, to achieve.

If you deprive the fire of oxygen, either initially or into the process, it will suffocate and go out. Adding too much firewood too quickly is an example of suffocation. If the firewood is wet, one should be especially careful of suffocation because the water must evaporate from the wood through heating in order for the wood to be usable fuel. Water acts to suffocate fire.

Without a source of ignition an entire stand of dry timber is safe. Ignition can be as simple as a burning cigarette stub, broken glass on the side of the road which the sun uses to focus rays thus causing the ignition, a lightning strike, or deliberate striking of a match.

To build a quick, successful fire, remember these three key ingredients.

Other tips I've learned over the years is to always build a fire on a dry base. Even when building in a fire ring or pit, the ashes left from before could be damp. Put down dry material, or a rock, and build upon that.

Lay your wood upon the fire in either log cabin or tepee pattern. This avoids over crowding of large pieces and subsequent smouldering or suffocation.

Another favorite configuration is the lean-to fire. Choose one large log, lay it in the fire ring. Lay small twigs against on the log, reaching to the ground at an angel sort of like this: /O .
The O represents the end of the log and the slash represents the twigs. Gradually increase the size of the twigs.

Fire safety includes safe choice of location. Not too close to a flammable shelter, not on top of duff and pine needles without barriers to rapid spread. Not where strong winds or gusts could carry embers to available fuel sources.