Simple Firestarting

[Michael]

Originally Posted by Theosus

Ive seen bonfires lit that way, even using wood pallets. Getting air into a fire is the only way to make it really hot. Pallets burn well, burn hot, and burn FAST.

There's a town near here that used to do bonfires for the 4th of July. They'd drive a log into the ground that was more or less phone pole sized, then use that as a base for wood pallets. They'd pack the pallets until they were up to the top of the log (ie level with the top of the phone wires), and then put a shed on top that looked like a house.

The thing went up like a rocket. The fire department would park a fire truck nearby and spray a fairly constant stream of water onto it to keep it from getting too out of control, and it was still so hot that it hurt to get within 50 feet of it.