Come summer there is simply nothing more enjoyable than whiling away the evenings in the garden, gathered around your firepit.

This cosy little pleasure provides the perfect setting for telling stories, enjoying a romantic moment, or just for relaxing away the stresses of a busy day.

However, getting the fire going in your firepit can sometimes be easier said than done! And it’s always a bit embarrassing when you try to impress your guests with a roaring fire and end up with a piddly little thing that keeps going out.

Thankfully there are some super easy steps you can follow to ensure you get a fabulous fire in your firepit each and every time.

Safety first…

Before you even start your fire it’s important that you think about safety first. The last thing you want to do is cause damage to your property, or worse still endanger yourself and others.

Follow these tips for best practices for firepit safety:

• Ensure your firepit is on even ground.
• Place your firepit at least 3 metres from your house, trees or any other structure.
• Don’t use your firepit when it is windy.
• When the fire is lit, maintain a safe distance from the flame and keep watch of your children and pets.
• Do not use propellants like lighter fluid or gasoline or any other toxic products.
• Always monitor your fire.

For more information about fire safety check out our blog post here on UK fire laws.

Firepit preparation

Once you have made sure you have followed all our safety advice it’s time to prepare to start the fire.

For a successful fire you will need the following:

• Firestarter – This is obviously essential, you can use matches, kitchen lighters or a butane torch lighter.
• Tinder – Tinder is what you need to start your fire. You can use leaves or newspaper, however, we highly recommend using your eco firelighters which are 100% chemical free and completely odourless.
• Kindling – These dry sticks will catch the flame and help get your fire officially started. You could gather together sticks and twigs but for a more reliable option why not check out our locally sourced kindling, which has a moisture content of less than 10% to get your fire lit quickly and easily every time.
• Firewood – Obviously you will absolutely need good quality firewood to make and maintain your fire. Visit our website to purchase affordable, high-quality logs to make the perfect fire.

How to start your fire in your firepit

Now that you have all the materials you need it’s time to start your fire.

Follow these easy steps to fire up your firepit:

1. At the bottom centre of your firepit build a little pile of tinder around the same size as your palm.
2. Next make a pyramid over your tinder with your kindling, placing them at 35 degree angles. The tinder should be quite close together but allow some space between them for good airflow.
3. Get your firestart and set fire to the tinder and wait for the kindling to start burning.
4. When the kindling has started burning you can then start adding your fire logs. As with the kindling, place your logs in a pyramid-like structure. You want the logs to be as close to the flames as possible as this will help keep the fire concentrated and will generate more heat. As with kindling, make sure there are gaps between the logs for air flow.

Maintaining your firepit fire

Once you’ve got your fire going you can’t just leave it to do its own thing. You will need to continue to add logs every so often to keep the fire going throughout the evening.

How to put out your firepit fire

Putting out your fire is just as important as knowing how to light it.

Follow these three simple steps to safely put out your firepit:

1. Using a hose or a bucket of water gently spray or sprinkle water over the flames. Don’t drench your firepit heavily as this can damage it.
2. After you have gently sprinkled water on it and the fire has dulled down to just embers, take a shovel and carefully mix the ash and embers together. You will start to hear hissing and once that has died down you can stop.
3. Carefully touch the ash and if it is cool to the touch you can then dispose of the ash.

And that is all you need to know about how to make the perfect fire in your firepit! So get out there, fire up the firepit and make some magical memories.