Bonfire Tips

Due to the large volume of material I have to share, I am arbitrarily splitting it up into campfire tips and bonfire tips [this page]. I'll formalize the distinction with a few home-grown definitions.

A "campfire":

Is used for practical purposes like cooking and heating.
Probably involves few people - those from nearby tents.
Is small.
Can be extinguished as soon as the need for it has passed.

A "bonfire":

Is larger.
Is used for ceremonial or ritual purposes, or group meetings or celebration.
Probably has more people involved - various campers from the nearby area.
It burns a long time, perhaps all night.

These distinctions are somewhat arbitrary. If you think this page meets your needs, you should probably also read campfire tips.

Cautions
Who Is In Charge?
- Chief
- Fire Monkey
Preparations
Building The Fire
Lighting The Fire
While Fire Is Burning
Putting Out The Fire
Related Pages

Cautions

Fire hot!
Fire burn!
Be careful with fire, eh!

Also, be aware that many accelerants are hazardous!

Who Is In Charge?

Appoint a single person to be in charge of the fire, from preparing the area before the fire, through putting it out afterwards.

The person in charge of the fire itself is not necessarily the person who is in charge of organizing the bonfire, or of presenting it. Think of the organizer as the producer of a play (he might not even attend the performance); the person presenting the bonfire as the master of ceremonies; and the fire monkey as a technician.

I don't think that it is a good idea to have a single person as both Chief and Fire Monkey. Since he or she will have divided attention, and one or both tasks will probably suffer.

Chief

I'll use the term "Chief" to describe the person presenting the bonfire. In some cases, he may even masquerade as an Indian Chief.

In any case, he or she is a figure of authority and is to be obeyed in all things - except where fire safety is involved, which is the charge of the Fire Monkey.

Fire Monkey

I'll use the term "Fire Monkey" to describe the person in charge of all technical aspects of the bonfire.

The most important job of the Fire Monkey is to insure safety, and in this area, the Fire Monkey is supreme. If the Chief says "Let the ceremonial fire be lit!" and the wind has kicked up so that in the estimation of the Fire Monkey it is dangerous, he can (politely, quietly) inform the Chief that there will be no fire. Choose your Fire Monkey wisely. Fire Monkey - be worthy of the responsibility you carry.

This person in charge of the fire does not have to do everything personally. He or she can have helpers and can delegate certain tasks. But there has to be a single "go to" person who is in charge of the fire itself.

I have seen situations where the person in charge of the fire shirked his responsibilities, or used dangerous materials and equipment. Nowadays, I volunteer to be in charge of the fire. I do all the preparation work myself and take care of all aspects of the fire until about an hour past the end of the actual event. Then I collapse in a heap and other volunteers are scheduled to take over. I take my job very seriously. A good fire takes a lot out of me.

Preparations

I have never had a problem with fire getting out of control. But I like to be prepared, just in case.

General Preparations

Make sure that the season and weather are right for a fire. Some regions have a "dry season", where the woods for miles around act like tinder, awaiting a spark to cause a wildfire. Even if the area is not particularly dry, high winds may drive the fire out of your control. If you are camping at a park, check with the ranger station.
Bring necessary supplies and equipment for the fire. Helpful tools include:
- camp axe - For splitting some of the larger pieces of wood. NOTE: Make life easier on yourself and don't bring huge pieces of wood.
- poker - Helpful in adding wood to the fire, or rearranging burning logs.
- bellows - Handy
Bring emergency supplies that you hope to never use: a fire extinguisher, enough garden hoses to stretch from a faucet to the fire site, an adjustable nozzle, first aid kit.

Fire Wood

Bring firewood. Cutting firewood in a park will probably get you thrown in jail. If it doesn't, it should.

In Southern California, it is fairly easy to find firewood in bundles at the supermarket. During the Summer, campers use it. During the Winter, some folks burn it in the fireplace.

When we planned our big events, we asked everybody planning to attend to bring a bundle of firewood.

Don't bring huge logs, unless you are planning to put them on the fire as-is. Chopping wood is more exercise than I care to get while camping.

Site Preparations

Make sure that you have a suitable fire pit.
Bring a rake, and use it to clear the area around the fire pit of flammable debris, including leaves and pine needles.
Hook up the nozzle and hoses, running them from the fire area to the nearest faucet. Spray the shrubbery near the fire pit. If the area around the pit is dusty, spray that lightly to keep the dust down. When done with the hose, coil it up just out of sight and leave the faucet that supplies it on - just in case.

Building The Fire

The Fire Pit

Campfires and bonfires need to be confined in some sort of fire pit. This helps to keep the flame from spreading from the intended fire area and setting unintended areas ablaze. Equally important, the pit serves as a containment structure so that flaming logs won't roll away when the pile of fuel collapses.

For a small campfire, this might be a circle of rocks. For a large bonfire, you need either high wall around the fire area, or a pit dug into the ground.

Many developed camping areas have official fire pits. Ask about them.

If you are camping in a park, do not build your own fire pit from local rocks. If there is no fire pit already available, you don't have a fire. In a developed campsite, the lack of a fire pit means that the local authorities don't want a fire.

If there is an existing pire pit, do not try to move it or build another pit. Use the site as you found it, and leave it as you found it - though perhaps cleaner.

Stacking The Wood

There are many ways to stack the wood for a campfire or bonfire.

Please note that the beautiful precise geometry of a well-laid fire is a transitory thing. It will look nice and be easy to light. But after the fire has been burning for a while, it will collapse into a mess of flaming logs, going this way and that.

A properly laid fire has a careful progression from tinder (something very easy to light), to small twigs (not so easy to light, but burns longer), to larger pieces of wood, to logs (burn a long time, but hard to light by themselves).

Since bonfires are large and tend to be lit fron a strong source of fire, you can probably skip the tinder and twigs. If you want to start a big bonfire from something small, like sparks from flint and steel, then start with a campfire and build the bonfire around that.

Some layouts used for bonfires are:

teepee
lean-to
log cabin

I like the "log cabin" for bonfires. It is orderly, looks good, and provides plenty of draft (air) to the fire.

Accelerant

Accelerant can be anything that you add to a fire to make it burn hotter, burn faster, or light easier. BBQ lighter fluid is an accelerant. Decades ago, I saw bonfires made easier to light by the application of "Boy Scout water" - gasoline or Coleman fuel.

I like to use accelerants with my bonfires. If you don't use an accelerant, you may end up in the humiliating situation of standing in front of a large crowd of spectators, trying in vain to get a huge stack of wood to catch fire.

I tend to discourage the use of gasoline, Coleman fuel, or BBQ lighter fluid as accelerants. One reason is because they are volatile and can flash up without warning. The other reason is because they are volatile and can evaporate away while you are waiting to light the fire.

I usually suggest Kerosene as an accelerant because:

It is effective and inexpensive.
It evaporates slower than gasoline, Coleman fuel, or BBQ lighter fluid.
You can get an "odorless" version.

WARNINGS:

Never add accelerant to a fire that is already burning! The fire may flash up and burn you.
Depending on what you have used as accelerant, the fire might flash up quickly. If you give the accelerant time to build up vapors, this is more likely. When lighting the fire, approach it carefully! If you use some "magic" way of lighting the fire, make sure that nobody is close to the fire when you trigger the ignition!

Tips:

Apply the accelerant just before the event starts - or as late as conveniently possible. Don't give it time to evaporate.
If the fire wood isn't very dry and thirsty, the accelerant won't sink in. It will probably drip down the bottom of the pit and gather in a puddle. I like to put some cotton cloth in my fire to soak up the liquid and spread it around.
After putting the accelerant on the wood, seal the container and put it in a safe place away from the fire pit.

Lighting The Fire

Since bonfires tend to be dramatic, ceremonial, or ritual, you don't want to have a flop lighting the thing. Carefully consider how you will light the fire. If it is in any way exotic, try it first in advance ... several times.

Torch

An effective and symbolic way to start a fire is by bringing in a flaming torch and setting it to the wood. This is low-tech, but can easily be incorporated into just about any ritual.

My favorite torch is made from a pine cone, firmly attached to the end of a stick, and dipped in wax. Since this type of torch may drip melted wax, don't hold it straight up and down, but at an angle away from you.

Flaming Arrow

Decades ago, when I went to summer Boy Scout camp, some bonfires were lit by a flaming arrow, shot into the pile of wood. This can be very dramatic.

If I were to attempt this effect today, I would attach guides to the arrow and slide it down a cord that runs from the wood to high in a nearby tree. Guiding the arrow this way may sound like a sissy thing, but consider the ramifications in the unlikely event that a flaming arrow hit the wrong thing...

Magic

For a magical bonfire that lights itself, please see Bonfire Magic Tricks.

Backup Ignition

No matter how careful you are, things can go wrong. What would you do if you try to light the fire and it doesn't start?

I always carry, as a backup, "lifeboat" matches. These somewhat resemble wooden kitchen matches. But instead of a little dab of fire coating on the tip, most of the length of the match is coated. And they are waterproof. If a fire should fail to light, I would just walk up to it, strike one of these hot, long-burning matches, and touch it to a piece of kindling wet with accelerant.

So far, I have never had to do this. But I've come close.

While Fire Is Burning

Main Event

A bonfire is only a part of the event. There is certain to be a lot more going on: singing, dancing, story-telling. Perhaps prayer, dedication, or other ritual and ceremonial events.

The Chief is in charge of directing these events.

The Fire Monkey may perform tasks as directed by the Chief, but for the most part, he should be ignored and left to tend the fire in the background.

Whatever the main event is should be planned and organized well in advance. The Fire Monkey has to be involved with the planning so that he knows how the fire will be used and how long it is to last. As an example, consider this dialog: "That's a beautiful huge bonfire. How are people expected to jump over it?" "You never said that you would have people jumping over it!"

Hint: Limit the length of the main event. The whole bonfire experience should be limited to under an hour in all cases, 20-30 minutes for younger children.

Watching The Fire

As long as the fire is burning, somebody has to be watching over it. One reason is to keep the fire fed with additional fuel. Another reason is to make sure that the fire doesn't flare up, leap out of the pit, roll out a burning log, shoot sparks, or otherwise spread to unintended areas. You have to keep a vigil.

Keeping watch over the fire is a joy when there are other people around it, singing, dancing, telling stories, or just soaking in the warmth. It's an honor to be the guy who gets to add more wood to the fire when it burns down.

Watching over the fire is a boring activity after everybody else leaves and you wish you could, too.

When there is no more need for the fire, and nobody left to watch over it, put the fire out. If there is some religious or ritual reason that the fire should be allowed to burn itself out, you have to post a watch over it. Even after the fire has seemingly burned out, put the fire out yourself to make sure.

Feeding The Fire

If you want to keep the fire burning, you need fuel. Ideally, you will have built a fire that lasts as long as the main event, without having to be fed.

But if you need to prolong the life of the fire, have some extra wood nearby and feed the fire discretely without disturbing what is going on.

Putting Out The Fire

Note: Hot embers can be hidden under a layer of ash. A fire that seems to be out might not really be safe to leave!

To be sure that the fire is out:

Soak the fire with water.
Stir the ashes.
Soak it again!

You may be interested in these related pages:

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