Good Ways to Start a Wood Fireplace

Preparing the Area

• To ensure the best fire, it's best to remove all the ashes from the fireplace interior with a shovel and sweep or vacuum the area clean. For safety reasons, it's a good idea to remove all flammable materials from the hearth and the areas on either side of the fireplace. To make sure the damper is open to let the smoke escape, look up into the chimney and use the lever or cable to adjust the damper to its most open position.

Traditional Wood Fire

• Starting with small pieces of kindling on the center of the grate gives the fire a chance to catch and gain strength to ignite the larger pieces of wood. Topping the kindling with one split section of log on each end leaves space in the middle of it for the updraft from the flue to help the fire start. To keep smoke from filling the room, choose sections that do not extend beyond the front of the grate but let them touch the back of the fireplace to increase stability. When you lay two larger pieces of wood on top of the log splits, rest their ends against the rear of the fireplace to create a firebox that is open in the front to let the heat radiate outward.

Quick Start Method

• If you want to start the fire quickly, it's best to start with two or three sheets of crumpled newspaper place on the center of the grate. Since dry pine is highly flammable, it's an effective topper for the newspaper. The recommended size for the pine kindling is 1/2- by 10-inch strips -- add a generous handful to create a strong blaze. If hand-cut pine kindling is unavailable, you can purchase fatwood, precut pine pieces, or fire-starter chunks made from treated fiberboard particles and use them to get the fire started. For the heart of the fire, it's best to crisscross the kindling with eight to 10 pieces of dry hardwood about a foot long and an inch in diameter. After you light the paper and the fire is burning strongly, you can keep it going by adding two or three small logs on top.

Tips and Hints

• To protect floors and furniture from errant sparks and embers, place a fireplace screen in front of the fireplace. If you burn a lot of pine in the fireplace, keep the interior of the chimney free of creosote by having it regularly cleaned. Burning plastic or paper with colored ink is not recommended as they emit toxins.