If you're going to go camping, you're going to want to know How to Start a Camp Fire. Building a proper fire takes some skill, and care should be taken not to cause any accidental damage, but if you follow the steps below you'll have a good roaring fire in no time.

If you're going to go camping, you're going to want to know How to Start a Camp Fire. Building a proper fire takes some skill, and care should be taken not to cause any accidental damage, but if you follow the steps below you'll have a good roaring fire in no time.

• When you're out camping, it's always fun to sit around the campfire, talk and roast marshmallows, but getting one started can be tricky if you don't know what you're doing. Keep in mind that fire is dangerous, so you should have water or a bucket of sand on hand while building up and using a camp fire.

(Creative Commons photo by Rob Lee)

• Most campsites will have ready made fire pits for you to use, often made out of brick and mortor or assembled stones, but if yours doesn't, you'll have to put one together before you get your fire started.

1. Find a flat area at least 4 or 5 feet wide, that's out of the range of either the trees, or your other camping equipment, be it a tent or a cabin.
2. Clear any brush out from the center of the area, including sticks, leaves and other debris.
3. Collect stones from the surrounding area. You'll want to find some that are flat, and about the size of your open hand.
4. Build a wall about 6 inches high surrounding the center of the cleared area. You'll want it to be about 2-3 feet in diameter.
5. Try and make it so there's holes in the wall, so air will be able to get in and out.

• Once you've got the firepit set up, it's time to get working on the fire. You'll need to start small, especially since you're working from scratch for the most part.

1. Collect as many small dry twigs and sticks as you can. To test, snap the twig or branch: If it breaks with a loud snap, it's dry. If it bends and peels, it's too wet inside to use as kindling.
2. You'll also want to collect tinder, which is anything light you can catch with just a match. Good tinder would be birch or cedar bark, newspapers, napkins, paper, or dry leaves.
3. Place the tinder in a pile at the center of the fire pit.
4. Arrange the sticks and twigs around the tinder, leaning against each other to make a conical shape, like a tipi. You'll want to make sure it's relatively sturdy, because you don't want it to topple too early and possibly smother the flame. You might want to tie the tops of the sticks together with string.
5. Also if you have them, you might want to use Presto Logs to help it get started.
6. If you're in a big hurry to get it lit, you might want to use a very small amount of lighter fluid, but you should be able to get the fire started without it.
7. Using either a match or a lighter, light the tinder. If the sticks and leaves were constructed correctly, this should be enough to catch them. If not, you'll have to find more tinder and try again, or alternatively, keep adding tinder to the already burning tinder until it finally catches.

• Now that you've got it started, you'll want to build it up some so it can stay burning. A campfire's not much use if it doesn't last, after all.

1. Collect some larger branches (an inch and a half to two inches in diameter), and some larger, split logs. Again, make sure that they're dry by breaking the branches, and touch-testing the logs.
2. Arrange the branches around the kindling, taking care not to knock it over.
3. You'll want to work your way up to the larget things, as by this point the fire probably isn't quite hot enough to catch the logs on fire. Use the smaller branches first, then add the larger branches as they start to catch.
4. Once the coals and embers below are glowing orange, and the flame has successfully caught the branches, now you'll want to throw on the first log. Depending on the size of the log, you'll either want to lean it on the side of the branches, or put it directly under them, into the coals themselves.
5. As the first log catches, you'll want to start putting more of them on. Generally, you'll only want to have two, at the most three, of the logs in the fire at any one time, using large sticks and branches to fill out the structure.
6. Now, just use your roaring fire to cook, or make marshmallows. Or just sit and enjoy it.

• It's dangerous and very much a bad idea to leave a campfire unattended, so once you're finished with it, or if you have to leave, you're going to want to put it out. For detailed instructions, see How to Put Out a Campfire.

• An old fashioned camp fire is a key part of any camping trip, so it pays to know how to start, maintain, and extinguish one. Just make sure you're careful with the flames, because as useful and nice looking as it is, it's still fire and therefore dangerous.

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• Introduction
• Step 1: Building A Firepit
• Step 2: Starting The Fire
• Step 3: Building Up The Fire
• Step 4: Extinguishing The Fire
• Conclusion