Weekend DIY Project: A Home Firepit

So my oldest son is a bit of a pyro.  His father is a bit of a pyro, just like his father before him.  While I (and my retired fireman father) may enjoy little more than a good fire, we also want to do so safely.

This project is a very simple project that can even be done with a three year old helping.  I speak from experience :)

This project has four major aspects:

1. Site
2. Security (Construction)
3. Fuel
4. Safety

Site
The first thing you need to do is select a safe site for the fire pit.  The ideal site for a fire pit has nothing above it, nor anything flammable near by it.  Every one of these things are of paramount for safety - the more you risk, the higher your chances of the fire spreading.

Security (Construction)
Now that you know where you want your fire pit to be at, it is now time to construct it. Construction of a fire pit is entirely about securing the fire pit and those who are around it.

The first thing I recommend is a small - gasp - pit!  My pit is about a one foot by two foot square on the surface and is about 8" deep.  Not very big, I know but I wasn't going for anything big. The bigger your pit, the bigger the flame will be.

The next thing I recommend is a barrier that surrounds at least half (if not all) of the pit. This provides a little more security against the flame, as well as prevents someone from accidentally stepping into dying embers.

Your barrier can be either a steel wall (such as a fire ring), stones, or bricks. I personally constructed a half-circling wall of stones around my fire pit.

Finally you need a dead-zone around the pit.  A dead zone should be dead soil all around the pit, with nothing growing in it.  The radius of the dead zone should be roughly equal to half the width of your pit.  You can reduce the deadzone by the use of the barrier above, but I do not recommend it.  A deadzone can be created by tilling, digging, dropping sand on the area, etc. It's a lot of work, but it is of paramount safety.

Fuel
You may not know this, but certain types of wood are worse to burn than others.  Evergreens are somewhat toxic when burned (especially when burned for cooking).  The best is Oak, followed by Maple and Poplar - all common woods thankfully.

Never burn wood that has been "treated," such as wood that you would get from construction.  The treating chemicals can be deadly if inhaled or cooked with.  If in doubt, leave it out.

Finally, and this may come as a surprise, but your wood does NOT need to be all dry. However it cannot be GREEN.  This means that you cannot simply cut down a tree and toss it on the fire - it needs time for the sap to dry and harden/run out and for various metabolic processes to kick off and make the wood safe to burn.  I reccomend a week, minimum.

Now if the wood itself  is wet (but not green) that's cool - as long as you have enough dry material to get a fire started.  Once it's roaring, add the dampened wood to the top - the fire will dry it out and the wood will burn slower.

You also may consider things like a commercial fire starter or even a bit of rolled up newspaper to get the fire going.  Don't focus on just these materials, but using them to get it started.

Finally - and based on the Security section seemingly counter-productive based on the Security section - is Oxygen.  A fire cannot burn without it.  Build your fire so that as the wood is laid in air has a chance to move through it safely.  Keep the fuel from being too close to the edges of the pit so air has room to flow down to the fuel where it can be burned more efficiently.

Safety
Safety comes last, but as you can tell from before is still first.  Keep a bucket of water or sand on hand at all times, and never ever leave the fire unattended.  Children and animals should be kept away from the fire, with clear visual barriers of where it's safe to go.  I personally sat a few big rocks about four feet away from my fire pit, with instructions to my son that he can move behind the rock and sit on top of it, but he cannot move in front of it.

Summary
As long as you keep yourself safe and take care to keep the fire from spreading, there's no reason you cannot enjoy a good fire on a cool summer night and cook marshmallows.  It's a great bonding experience for your family, and the kids enjoy watching the flames flicker.