How to Make a Teepee Fire

The teepee fire creates a focuses upward flame.

Building a campfire for an evening's meal or simply for entertainment and comfort on a cool evening requires having all the materials in place before starting for the best results. The "teepee" method of building a fire is taught to young scouts and other budding outdoor enthusiasts as an efficient way to get the campfire off to a roaring start. Always use safe practices when working with fire and leave the actual starting to the older kids or responsible adults.

Things You'll Need

• Tinder (newspaper, dry leaves)
• Kindling (small, thin sticks)
• Matches or long-stemmed lighter

Instructions

1. Build your fire in a designated fire pit or circle and have a full water pail or bottle nearby to extinguish the flames in case the fire becomes out of control.

2. Gather small pieces of tinder, kindling and larger sticks and logs. The tinder can include very dry needles, leaves and newspaper. Kindling consists of short, thin sticks, generally no thicker than finger's width. Continue finding bigger pieces of wood for when the fire gets going.

3. Set a few crumpled pieces of newspaper into the center of the fire ring. If newspaper isn't available, use dried leaves, grass and moss as the starter.

4. Lean short, thin sticks and small pieces of bark up against the paper to form a "teepee" shape. Use plenty of kindling to close the gaps around the paper, but leave one section slightly open, to allow an air draft to fan the flames. Imagine the open grate of a fireplace.

5. Place a few thicker sticks against the teepee. These larger sticks will fall into the center once the teepee collapses and be the foundation of your fire. Don't use too many or the weight of the larger sticks will collapse the teepee prematurely.

6. Light the crumpled paper or other tinder with a long-stemmed lighter or match through the opening. Light the paper in each corner allowing for even burning. As the fire ignites the pine needles and sticks, a draft will pull air in through the open section, creating a small blaze.

7. Add increasingly larger sticks to the foundation of the fire to increase it to the desired size.

Tips & Warnings

• Never build a fire near any flammable material such as a tent or low-hanging branches.

References

• Trefoil Scouts: Fire Building
• Backwoods Bound: Building a Teepee Fire

Resources

• Campfire Dude: All About Campfires and Fire Starting
• USDA Forest Service: Campfire Safety