When I moved to Three Rivers 15 years ago, the first
time I tried introducing myself to my neighbors was in the middle of
the night when I knocked on their door to tell them I thought my house
was on fire.
I thought it was strange that their cars were in
the driveway and their lights were on but that no one was answering
the door. The next day, my neighbor, L., came over with a plate of chocolate
chip cookies to welcome me to the neighborhood and to apologize for
not answering the door.
“I didn’t know it was you. I had a gun aimed at the
door the whole time and if anyone tried to open that door, I was going
to blow off whoever’s head it was,” she said.
“Oh,” I said. “Well, thanks for not shooting.”
That’s when I realized I’d better learn how to build
a fire in my wood-burning stove without accidentally setting my chimney
on fire again.
Being from the city, I had never had to worry about
fires (at least none that I had set myself). I just turned on a switch
and presto, there was heat. But in my first house in Three Rivers, a
wood-burning stove was my only source of heat. So, I began trying to
find out as much about fire building as I could. Instead of asking people
the usual philosophical questions that used to plague me, like, “Do
you believe in God?” or “What do you think is the answer to life?” I
began asking the more relevant question of, “How do you build a good
fire?”
Of course, no single person had the answer. Over
time, I began to realize that building a fire is an art and that there’s
lots of different ways to do it. One thing I learned, though, is that
it’s important to have a good solid, foundation. You begin with what’s
easiest to burn first. Dry, crumpled paper works better for this than
a heavy wet log much the same as when you first meet someone, it’s probably
best to start out talking about the weather rather than launching into
a discussion about the time you committed armed robbery when you were
17.
After the initial spark, you gradually feed the fire
with materials that take longer to burn than talks about the weather
or dry crumpled paper. Dry twigs, sticks and logs are the general sequence
of events.
Fire is risky business and timing is important. If
you add too much wood too soon, the fire will suffocate. But if you
don’t feed it fast enough, it’s very easy for it to fizzle out.
Getting started is usually the hardest part. Some people find that using certain starter fluids or intoxicants
speed up this otherwise time consuming process. These liquids
can be helpful in some instances, but if used carelessly, things can
get quickly out of control.
Any fire, however it gets started, needs plenty of
air in order to grow. When it’s time to put your fire out, either stop
feeding it and cut off its air supply until it withers and dies. Or,
throw, cold water on it. Throwing cold water on it may cause quite a
shock to the system and spew nasty smoke all over the place. Your stove
may even crack from such an abrupt ending, making it more difficult
to build future fires. It’s best to treat your stove gently, so that
it will stay in as good shape as possible.
Bear in mind, too, that if you haven’t lit a fire
in a long time, your apparatus may be a bit cold. It will take longer
to heat up, before it starts to work. So, be patient.
All of this may really sound like a lot of work.
Some people would rather not be bothered with it—all the time, effort
and mess it creates all over your nice living room rug. But what are
the alternatives? You can either go through life cold, which could lead
to illness and early death, or you can switch to manufactured heat….but
those electric devices can be ever so impersonal.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper
and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the
publisher.
