Have you ever been out camping with your family or friends? It’s fun, isn’t it? It’s a whole new experience sleeping with loved ones and friends in tents, playing a tune with the guitar, singing camp songs, and just staring at the beautiful night sky. However, something is missing. Something essential. Something fun. Yes, you need to have a campfire.

A campfire is an open fire that is lit at campsite. It is quite essential; it provides warmth and light, drives away mosquitoes and other insects, and supplies heat for cooking meals and roasting hotdogs or marshmallows. It can also act as a signal light, telling others that there are people in the area where a campfire is.

One must remember though that fire is not something to be played with. Without proper precautions, campfires are potentially dangerous. A campfire can blow out of manageable proportion in two ways. First, dead pine needles or dry leaves on the ground may catch fire when sparks from the campfire land on them. Secondly, flying embers or sparks may ignite dead leaves and bark in overhanging branches.

To safely build a campfire, you need to have some basic skills. It is not difficult at all, and a beginner could easily do it.

Here is how to set a campfire:

1) The first thing to do on how to set a campfire is to find a suitable, safe spot. Ideally, a campfire should be placed and lit in a fire ring. A fire ring is a circular contraption of stones or metal to prevent the fire from spreading. If a fire ring is unavailable, one can select an area that is free of flammable organic material. Naked earth or sand would be great.

2) The campfire should not be built close to trees, tents, or other fire hazards. Also, check the ground for any protruding roots; they might also catch fire. Ideally, the campfire should be placed in a relatively clear area with no trees or dead organic material or vegetation around.

Have a portable fire extinguisher, a pile of sand or soil, or a pail of water nearby to extinguish the fire.

3) The next step on how to set a campfire is to use the right fuel. Tinder (e.g., dead grass, leaves), kindling (e.g., twigs, small sticks), or timber (e.g., chopped wood, fire wood) are all needed.

Timber is the main source of fuel. The best ones are branches from Douglas fir trees,

pitchwood or rotten wood. If these are not present in your campsite, you can bring fuelwood from home or purchase fuelwood from nearby stores. Make sure they are dry thought; wet material works poorly.

Bring a pile or two to your campsite. You would need a lot since you will have to add fuel to the fire from time to time.

4) The next step is building the campfire design. The most common is the tepee design. First, a shallow hole is dug on the ground. Then, the tinder is piled up in a bunch. Smaller kindling is arranged like an Indian tepee around the tinder. Then larger kindling is arranged above the smaller kindling. Care should be taken not to collapse the arrangement.

Tepee campfires are great for producing heat to keep campers warm for long periods of time.

5) Once the campfire is built, the next step on how to set a campfire is to light the tinder. This could be done by a match or lighter. Light the tinder or the kindling. If either does not catch fire, you must add more tinder or kindling until the timber lights up.

You can aid the fire by steady, forceful blowing. This gives fire a lot more oxygen to burn. When the kindling is burning, you can now add larger and heavier timber on top of the kindling in the same manner as building the tepee fire.

Save a piece of kindling around a foot or two in length. This is used to push pieces of timber where they are needed.

6) When it is time to sleep, douse out the fire.