Snow storms, freezing temperatures, and brisk winds can often leave you couped up indoors all winter long. This holiday season move the party outside and stay warm by enjoying a fire. If you have a fire pit, encourage guests to gather around for hotdogs and s'mores. No fire pit? Start a bonfire.
Here's what you'll need:
1. A fire starter: newspaper, birch bark, dead pine needles, or cotton balls dipped in Vaseline
2. Tinder: twigs with a small diameter
3. Kindling: sticks as thick as your thumb
4. Fuel wood: logs too large to be broken by hand.
Your fire starter, tinder, and kindling should be dry, or you’ll struggle getting the fire burning. However, some of your fuel wood can be damp. Start out with the driest wood, and once the fire is roaring, place the stack of wet wood near the flame (not so close it catches fire!) to dry.
How to construct:
Unlike starting a fire in the summer, you have to build a solid base in the winter. Try compacting snow, laying down a layer of thick logs, or digging down to frozen ground before building your winter fire. Otherwise, the flame will melt through the snow it’s sitting on and suffocate. Build your fire using a traditional “tepee” method. Angle the larger fuel wood to form a pyramid, and place the kindling on the ground to serve as a floor. Your fire starter and tinder can be placed on the kindling. This design protects the flame, giving you a better chance of igniting a blaze.
What to avoid:
Don't build your fire under snow-laden trees. The heat can cause snow to shift and melt—and a big pile of falling snow can extinguish your fire and give friends a cold surprise. As with any fire, avoid burning polystyrene (also called styrofoam) cups, plates, plastic, or other waste—the resulting smoke is considered 300 times more likely to cause cancer than cigarette smoke, and it damages the atmosphere.
Until next time,
The Home Know-It-All
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