Make a fire

Scouting skills come to the fore as we show how to start and keep a blaze

Choosing your wood

Not all wood burns in the same way and it is hard to make green (living) or damp wood burn at all. Never damage living trees or shrubs – it is wasteful and the wood will not burn well; instead, pick up fallen dead wood – as dry as possible.

Don’t collect too many large, heavy pieces of wood unless you want to spend time chopping them up. Large logs will only burn on a hot fire. Thick sticks that can be easily broken make good fuel wood. If they do not snap easily the wood is green.

Once your fire is hot enough, it is possible to burn green or damp wood and it will slow your fire down and make it last longer. Damp wood gives off lots of smoke, but this can be useful if there are mosquitoes or midges about.

Wood types

Quick burning: birch, hazel, pine

Some types of wood flare up brightly and burn quickly to a fine ash. These include softwoods – conifers, such as fir, larch, pine and spruce – and some hardwoods such as apple, birch and hazel. These woods make good kindling for getting a fire going quickly, but they burn so fast the wood is soon used up. Also, conifers are full of resin, which makes the wood spit and give off sparks when burned.

Slow burning beech, hawthorn, oak, ash, cherry maple

Hardwoods are broad-leaved or deciduous trees, and most, such as ash, beech, cherry, hawthorn, holly, oak and maple, burn slowly and evenly, leaving embers that retain heat. These woods work less well as kindling (although dry holly leaves make great kindling), but will keep a fire going for hours and give off a great deal of heat. They are ideal for slow-cooking stews or pot roasts. But avoid chestnut, elm, poplar, sycamore and willow as these woods smoulder rather than burn.

Fire tips

Before you light your fire, make sure you have a good supply of extra firewood near (but not too close) to the fire

If possible, protect your woodpile with plastic sheeting to keep it dry

It can be useful....

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