My very independent kids were outside this afternoon, playing freely with whatever they could find in the backyard (sticks, pinecones, leaves, pine needles, the neighbor’s plastic lawn chairs) when DD, age 8, ran into the house to let DW and I know that DS, age 6, had started a fire outside. I let DW take the first alarm on this one, but DW quickly sounded my name for a second alarm.

DW found DS by a flame about 1 foot high, which he doused with a bucket of snow. DS was red-faced, crying, upset about being caught and I think he was also upset by his success, which I don’t think he was expecting.

Last summer, I had spent some time here and there with DD & DS looking for kindling, trying to light a fire with different methods (BlastMatch, Lite-My-Fire fire steel, magnifying glass, Fresnel lens, and matches), both at home on the back patio or the driveway, and at a campsite fire ring. We discussed air, fuel, & heat; where to build a fire; methods of extinguishing fires (water, smothering, disbursing or removing the fuel); checking to make sure they were out. These were small fires we worked on—small enough to stamp out with a foot. We discussed safety each time, but apparently I needed to give both DS & complicit DD a refresher about having adult supervision.

Today, after I checked to make sure there was no material burning anymore, and after DS had calmed down a bit, DD, DS and I had a discussion about the fire. I learned:

1. They were cold, but didn’t want to come in to warm up, so they decided to make a fire.
2. They chose a place to start the fire, on a concrete pad (which, decades ago, housed a brick fireplace, but was now just one course of bricks). They had defined a small area where the fuel and the fire would be by circling it with pinecones. This was not where we had practiced, but was similar.
3. They had constructed a windbreak with a found cardboard box, held in place by a rock DS put inside the box, and they placed it upwind.
4. They gathered dried grass for fuel.
5. They couldn’t find a source of water outside, so they filled a bucket with snow from the only place in the entire yard where the snow hadn’t melted and brought it next to the fire.
6. They chose the easiest method to start the fire, matches, and found them where they know I keep them, on my grill stand.
7. DS took one match out, and closed the matchbox.
8. DS was scared so he lightly dragged the match on the striker area.
9. DS saw that was not a big deal, so he did it harder and lit the match.
10. DS put it to the grass, and it caught, so DD smothered it with snow and came in to sound the alarm.
11. DS tried it again (persistent, eh?), and had a nice 1 foot flame by the time DW arrived on scene.

I conclude that I should pay attention to my son's requests to practice making fires. I had pushed his multiple requests off, saying we'd do it when we go camping this summer. He is showing a healthy interest, and we can certainly practice before the summer. I also will make my matches less accessible and talk to them about "what if" the fire gets out of control. Your comments?