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How to Start a Fire When Wood is Producing White Smoke?

Whether you're camping, using a wood-burning stove or simply out in the backyard, you should know how to properly start a fire. If the materials or technique you use to start and build a fire are suboptimal, you'll likely see more billows of white smoke than actual flames. A few basic facts about fire building can prevent you from wasting good wood or smoking out surrounding people or wildlife.

Things You'll Need

Dry, seasoned wood
Newspaper
Matches

Instructions

- 1
  Verify that the wood you are using was seasoned properly. This means that it was cut, split and allowed to sit for a year or more in sheltered stacks that provide enough air circulation to dry the wood. If you have started a fire and all you see is white smoke, the wood you are burning might be new and "green," meaning it was just cut and still full of moisture. The "smoke" you're seeing is actually steam. Obtain seasoned wood.
- 2
  Ensure that there's enough room for air to circulate. If you start a fire with too much wood, excessive white smoke results. This is because there isn't enough oxygen to feed the fire. Crumple newspaper into a small pile. Stack three pieces of firewood at an angle against each other above the newspaper. Light the newspaper.
- 3
  Use wood that tends to smoke less in general. Hardwoods such as ash, oak, beech and maple provide high heat with little smoke. Soft woods, such as southern yellow pine or spruce and fir will cause your fire to smoke due to the resin they contain.
- 4
  Monitor the fire and watch which way the wood is burning. If you allow the wood to smolder, the fire will smoke more. When a log or split is mostly ember, add another to replace it, keeping in mind that air circulation is key when placing it.

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