How to Start a Fire

Video Transcript

"Hi this is David Jackel on behalf of Expert Village, and I am here to talk to you about starting a fire in the Appalachian Mountains. With a fire, you have two major concerns. The first is keeping the fire going, and the second is keeping the fire under control. To begin, have plenty of kindling available, that is the small pieces of wood, before you start building your fire. Once you start the fire, you need to be able to feed it quickly. You do not want to have to run around looking for little pieces of wood to add to the fire. Build your camp fire away from anything you think will either put out the fire, like a branch that is covered with snow, or being at the bottom of a hill, or things that are going to attract the fire when you do not want them to like extra branches that are just hanging there, because if those branches get in the way, you are going to have a fire you do not want to have that could be completely out of control. Additionally, keep something like extra water or a big chunk of dirt near the fire so that in the event that you have to put out the fire quickly by throwing on either the dirt or the water. Find a clear area where there is nothing else on the ground that is going to burn. You can build a little circle out of rocks if you want. Start by putting the small twigs together, laying them on top of each other, then add on the larger branches, and then the largest ones. And make it into a crisscrossed and sort of pyramid shape. Light the small pieces of wood at the center with a match, and then wait for the fire to gradually build. As it builds, you can start adding larger branches on top. And once you have a really good fire going, all you will have to do is keep on throwing on a log now and then. As tempting as it may be to build a big fire, keep your fire small. You do not want to run the risk of having an out-of-control fire. So keep it small, something that you can manage. Always keep an eye on the fire. You never know when the fire can suddenly spring out-of-control. So if something should happen you want to be ready to stop it. And finally, when you are done with the fire, make sure that you put it out completely. Fire is a very useful tool as long as you use it responsibly."