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Fire site selection

When preparing to light a fire, the first important thing to do is fire site selection. If you choose an improper place for your fire, it will first of all be difficult to start it, then to provide fuel and last but not least - the site may turn out to be very inconvenient for your needs. In your fire site selection process, you should consider the following:

  • Your tools - do you have anything that can help you start a fire? If you have matches or a lighter you are in a perfect position and starting a fire will be much easier. Nonetheless you still should consider other factors as they may save a lot of effort and matches. If you do not have any fire starting tools, you may still have something else which will be useful. Perhaps you have some flammable cosmetics or dry fabric, from which you take out some threads and use them as tinder.
  • Type of area you're in:
    • is your surrounding dry or damp? - if it is damp, you will have to find a piece of something dry, on which you will start your fire. It would be extremely difficult to start a fire on wet grass or ground. Examples of such bases would be dry wooden boards, various fabric or even some dry bark, which is very flammable.
    • can you expect rains? - especially if you do not have any fire starting tools, staring a fire may be very difficult. Once you succeed, you do not want to have your life saving flame extingushed by rains. If in your area rains can be expected, you should consider building a shelter for your fire. A field-expedient shelter should be perfect for your needs. Of course you can first start a fire and build a shelter afterwords, but in your site selection you should consider enough space for a shelter.
    • will you have to stay in close proximity of fire? - is fire necessary for you to stay warm? If so, you should have it near or even in your shelter. Again a field-expedient shelter will be appropriate. Yet if your climate is very cold, you should build a very high fire reflector wall, leaving just a narrow gap between it and the roof to let the smoke come out. You have to be careful though not to get poisoned by carbon monoxide! - the gap cannot be too small!
    • is the site protected from wind? - it is very difficult to start a fire in windy conditions. Your fire site should be protected from wind. If it is inconvenient for you to have a fire site in a wind-protected place, you can start the fire there and once the flame is strong, move it to a different location, which you chose for a permanent fire site.
  • Material - how much and what sort of fuel will you have? Will it be wood or grass or hay? In some parts of the world people use animal excrements to light fires. Dried waste of a camel, cow or a horse is perfect for that. Below you can find a vast list of good fuels. You have to decide how long will you need the fire for and obtain appropriate amount of fuel. You should check also if the fuel is dry or damp. If dry, it will burn easily but quickly. If it is damp, you will have to allow additional times to dry it and while burning it will produce significantly more smoke. Once your fireplace is set up you will have to dry damp fuel by putting it in close proximity to the fire and keeping it there for a while, before tossing it in. Also starting a fire with damp fuel requires much more effort.

Preparation of a fire site

If you are in a wooded or brush-covered area, you should clear the brush and scrape the surface soil in the spot you selected. You should clear a circle at least 0.5 metre in diameter so there is little chance of the fire spreading.