Fail: Starting too big of a fire

Too much too fast
Some of the most common mistakes people make is adding too much wood all at once. If your fire is just getting started, then it needs lots of oxygen to burn. Plus, if your wood is wet, then it has to dry first before it will produce flames. Wait until there are white coals and a good flame before adding lots of wood.

Wait until the end to burn trash
First off, don’t burn plastic or glass. Second, make sure your fire is hot enough to burn food scraps and cardboard. Anything that doesn’t burn up completely will end up just producing smoke. Remember, you want to cook food over this fire, so don’t add any items that will give off pollutants.

Keep an eye on that fire
A new fire needs to be attended to in order to keep burning. If you set a fire and walk away, you will find it out in a matter of minutes. Here are some things to watch for:

• Wet wood not burning
• Strong winds
• Lack of tender to burn at the bottom
• Tee-pee falling over
• Fire not getting enough air
• Dark smoke – meaning something is not burning correctly
• Kids throwing too many sticks in the fire.
• Make sure the flames are burning from the middle and not just on one side.