My father taught me a lot of things growing up. Things like always turn your outside water off before the first freeze. When you're cutting something, let the saw do the work. And always eat *around* the hair on a ham hock. I must admit, some things I use in my every day life more than others.
But one of the most useful things my father taught me was how to build a fire. My father was an arsonist. No he wasn't. He did eat hairy ham hocks though. And many other disgusting things.
We had a wood burning fireplace installed in our home when I was about 9 or 10 and that fireplace had a profound effect on me. I became an arsonist. No I didn't. I did however, develop an obsession with wood burning fireplaces. If someone were to do a study comparing the effects of 3 months on Prozac to one night in front of a wood burning fireplace, the drug companies would go out of business.
Many years ago when I was looking for a house the only thing it required was a wood burning fireplace. Not a kitchen, not a bathroom ... a fireplace. I'd pee in a bucket before I went without a fire. Hell, sometimes I pee in a bucket just for fun.
So when a reader sent me an email asking me if I knew how to build a fire I responded with a great big YES and told her I'd do a post on it immediately. That was a year ago. Good thing she wasn't asking me what to do in case of a gas leak.
You need just a few things to build a fire, but they are very important. You need newspaper (or cardboard carrying trays from Tim Hortons work GREAT), kindling and smallish pieces of wood.
Roll your newspaper up medium tight. If it's too loose it'll burn too quickly and go out before the kindling can catch on fire. If you roll it too tight there won't be enough oxygen inside it to keep it burning and it'll go out before the kindling can catch on fire. 1 full sheet of regular sized newspaper per roll. Double up if you're using smaller newspaper like that from a flyer. The paper rolling is the most important part of the whole process. If you get it wrong, you're doomed. It might take a few tries to get the feel of how the paper should be rolled.
Lay a row of 4 or 5 piecees of long kindling across the paper. Keep the pieces of kindling close enough to each other that when they start to burn the flames will touch the adjacent piece of kindling. Don't put the kindling so close that it's touching the other piece of kindling. Again, the wood needs oxygen around it to burn and if it doesn't have that it won't ignite.
Lay another row of shorter kindling across the longer kindling. The only reason some kindling is longer and some is shorter is because fireplaces are normally much wider than they are deep.
Lay two long pieces of wood (not HUGE pieces) across the kindling.
Lay 2 or 3 shorter pieces of wood on top.
Top your fire with 1 or 2 larger pieces of wood.
Light a roll of paper ...
And quickly shove it under the grate. The lit roll will ignite the other paper rolls.
30 seconds later ...
3 minutes later ...
And no ... I don't normally leave the fireplace roaring without a screen in front of it. I was just doing so for artistic and instructional purposes. Normally the big ole screen is shoved in front of the fire.
A couple other tips about fireplaces I have for you are ...
1. Make sure you get your chimney swept once a year. Creosote and buildup can lead to chimney fires which can lead to house fires which can lead to homelessness which can lead to peeing in a bucket.
2. Use a small hatchet to chop your own kindling from your bigger pieces of wood. Cut a large piece of wood in half with a regular axe and then use the hatchet to cut your kindling.
3. When you clean out your fire place don't clean out all of the ashes. Leave a pile of ashes under your grate. It's helps make lighting your next fire easier, because the ashes act as a bed for the coals that fall down, keeping them up higher, and closer to the fire.
4. Wood is sold in cords, but there are different types of cords. The two most popular terms are bush cords and face cords. A bush cord is a stacked pile of wood that measures 4' high, by 4' deep by 8' long. What that amounts to is 3 rows of wood that are 4' high by 8' long. Each piece of wood should be 16" long. Each single row, is called a Face cord. Most places I've encountered, sell by the face cord. We bought 6 face cords this year for our winter fires, which is the equivalent of 2 bush cords. In technical terms, that's a crap load of wood.
5. When buying wood, look for hardwood. It burns longer, hotter and cleaner.
6. And finally, always eat around the hair on a ham hock.
I have to admit fire and me don't get along too well! I have set my hair and eyebrows on fire from the barbeque, New Year's Eve decorations ...from a candle, and then of course the piece de resistance ...mystore because of lighting on the Christmas tree! I, however, love my fireplace! I flick a switch and voila! Instant fire! No smoke smell however. Up side is my hair is still here not to mention my eyebrows and I will never have another real Christmas tree needle to clean up again! Enjoyed your instructions though and shall pass them on to my camping family. Oh, I don't camp either and have never peed in a bucket!:-)
Sue- I even peed in a cup once! ~ karen
Your father makes me think of my mother. She also taught me how to make a fire (exactly how you do it) and to always let the saw do the work. She never talked about the hair on a ham hock though so thank you for that...
see now I was all fine that i didn't have a fireplace until 3 minutes ago. NOw I want one. I grew up with a 2 wood burning fire places in out house and I miss it now.
Oops, finger slipped to the send button.
My almost 14 year old son condescendingly tries to help me whenever I try to light a fire. Now, I'm going to show him!
Lovely! Fond memories of rolling newspaper for firestarters with my Nana. Not so fond memories of hauling armloads of wood into our house. But, it built my character-right? Like the two 5 gallon buckets of water I carried to the barn for the chickens in morning.
a) what a pretty fireplace surround. I'm sure it adds to your Sunday sitting-around ambiance : ) b) I thought I was doing just fine in the fire-starting arena, but I think I am going to try that paper rolling strategy. c) Nicely written entry! I was laughing at several points, but especially the part about it being a good thing your reader didn't need help with a gas leak :D LOL
I can't wait to try this. My almost
we too enjoy our woodburning fireplace so much.people are always telling us we should get gas (horrors) or install an insert because our fireplace is not very cost effective or pracical but we just smile and say no we don't think so, we like it this way. there is absolutely nothing to compare to having a beauty fire going on a cold winters day. we all love to lay in front of its warmth and our cat STELLA! (think marlon brando) loves it too.we use the firestarters that we buy by the case at crappy tire for about 10$. they are about 6 inches long and we just light one and once its going we throw the logs on, it is a piece of cake and eliminates all the rolling up crap and cutting kindling.although i know you love that laura ingalls thing so you probably will keep using your method.we also go to great lenghts to get free wood..my sister had some trees felled at her property near peterborough this year so we took my brothers truck and went and got it.my bro in law has a splitter so we spent one sat splitting and stacking wood for this winter, saved us a bundle on wood and she is planning on losing another two or three so its looking good for next winter too!only problem is now we have one of those firebowls for our patio and we have started having little fires throughout the year outside so now we are using more wood.oh well its all worth it and as you say cuts down on the drug bills lol.
Marilyn - I also use firestarters a lot. I just thought everyone needed to know the *real* way to start a fire. You can actually buy them at Dollarama and they work great. I asked our chimney sweep about them and he said they were fine. They come long blocks that you break pieces off of. In the candle aisle I believe, LOL. Our wood cost $700 this year so feel free to let me know if you see a downed treee anywhere! ~ karen!
See? I TOLD my husband we needed at least ONE wood burning fireplaces in our house! He now regrets that both our fireplaces are gas....even talks about replacing one and making it woodburning. My very cautious hubs who knows how dangerous I can be was worried I just might burn our house down when he wasn't looking! LOL
My father was a Boy Scout leader. I learned from him to build a good kindling base like yours then, "One log won't burn, two logs might burn, three logs will burn."
Seeing your fire reminds me of the cords and cords of wood that I cut to keep my house warm in New England many years ago. Fire certainly warms the soul. Stay warm this winter.
Fred, doing stuff at PanamaShippingContainerHouse.com.
Fred - Seeing my fire reminds me we've already gone through 5 face cords of wood this winter and it's been a very mild winter with no snow at all yet! Might have to order and stack more. ~ karen!
What a Dad. My husband and father to our 3 has taught them many things along with making a fire. I am still amazed that more people do not know how to start a fire. I am off to start one of my own on this chilly morning.
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Well, trying to not take too much offense here, but some of us didn't grow up in a house with a fireplace. Or with families that particularly liked camping. In their/defense, I feel I must say this post of Karen's is quite useful.
Oh Karen...we are kindred spirits. This post really spoke to me. I also learned my paper rolling techniques from my father. A little different though...he started on the diagnal...rolled down, then tied in a loose knot....always works! I am going to try your stacking technique. When we built our house....we insisted on a wood burning fireplace in our living room.....even though we knew they are a mess/energy suck, etc. It makes our whole home. We had a mason build us a beautiful stone fireplace, that is open to the living room on one side, and the dining room on the other. Wanna see a pic?
Yup. ~ karen
I really enjoyed reading your article. It was funny as well as useful.. and serious at the same time. I like seeing the pictures so, I can always have a visual in my mind to make that perfect fire. Thank-you. Granny Gee
Do you really use a fire screen all the time Karen? I only put mine up when I go to bed, otherwise it takes too much heat away (and I have to keep moving it to add another log. I'm lazy and I have learnt to throw them quite accurately from a good distance away on the couch). I'd be really pleased if I did something slightly more dangerous and edgier than you. That big fish catching picture intimidates me.
Oh good god. You have to use a fire screen. Please tell me you're joking? Unless you live in a house made of boulders that is. Then you're O.K. The screen goes up all the time because of sparks from the wood. I've seen sparks shoot straight across the room from the fireplace! It really could burn your whole house down. Eep. ~ karen
This is a great post and I too also love open fireplaces. If only we were allowed to use the 2 open fireplaces in this rental :(
That fire should be used for the TV Christmas Fireplace channel!
BGrigg - LOL. I've often thought about taping that fire and putting it up on the site so people could watch it. ~ karen
I never found it that relaxing. Of course, I didn't get the firescreen up fast enough and caught some pillows near the fireplace on fire once.. and the carpet on fire another time.
See! This is why I read your blog, Karen! Because I have a LOT to learn. From you.
Marti - My sister set her gel fingernails on fire at Christmas dinner from the candles once. She didn't find that fire particularly relaxing either. ~ karen
That's probably a good reason for me not to wear them. I'm sure I could do that, too.
I wasn't quite clear about the "roll the newspaper" portion. We're rolling newspaper into newspaper with nothing but newspaper at the center. Is that it? Because you've done such a tidy job of it that it looks like there might be a tiny slice of kindling inside each of those rolls. Yes/no?
I'm only asking because I've never been able to adequately like a fire unless there were household furnishings standing by to supplement the flames. Eek!
Hah! No. No kindling inside. Or furniture. Just rolled up newspaper. ~ k!
This is spectacular. My fires have thus far sucked. They suck all day and my husband comes home and throws some wood and testosterone on the thing and it's a blazing inferno in seconds, much to the delight of our three small and frozen children. I hate it, Karen. But now, thanks to you....revenge is mine. Okay, maybe not revenge, but warmth....warmth like victory, wrapped in smugness under a blanket of ppbbbttttth. Thanks, Karen.
You are very welcome. It may take you a few tries of figuring out the paper and how close to put the kindling, but I have faith in you and your fires. ~ karen
Yes, I will have to practice with the rolls. I've been crumpling it up into balls (amateur, I know)!
I just heard some advice last week to use your hair-dryer for a few minutes blowing warm air up your chimney before lighting your fire... the air in your chimney is cold, and when the hot air rushes past it, the cold air drops, which can send smoke and ash back into the house... by warming the air first, you eliminate this chance, there-by, keeping the smell of smoke out of the house.
Becky - That only happens on very rare occassions. So rare, it's only happened in my fireplace once in the 13 or so years I've had it. Depending on the length of the chimney and the wind and the downdraft, it may never happen at all. However, if you do have trouble with a downdraft, all you have to do is light a piece of tightly rolled newspaper and hold it in the chimney. No need to drag out the hair appliances. :) ~ karen
What a beautiful fireplace! We haven't used ours in our no-longer-new-to-us house yet, even though we've been here 2+ years. But I'm starting to gently nag the man to get it cleaned so we can actually sit around it this winter.
itchbay - Um. You have to put a stop to that. You HAVE to use your fireplace. (first get the chimney etc. checked) There is NOTHING nicer than sitting inside on a Sunday afternoon with the fire roaring and a storm outside. NOTHING. Plus .. you can use it for cooking hotdogs. When I first got my house I didn't own a single thing including a stove. For the first several weeks, all I worked on the house and all I ate were hotdogs which I cooked on the fireplace. It was one of the happiest times of my life. :) ~ karen
Loved the firestarter how-to. I'm going to use the basics of this lesson on the fire pit at the cottage. Thanks for the definition of cords.
Also, Itchbay - call the chimney sweep yourself! If I left stuff like that up to my guy we'd still be living in a cave and shivering! LOL
LOL! ~ karen