What are the five stages of building a fire?

Answer 1

I'm not sure if there are 5 stages or not but here are some things to remember.

1. Clear out a safe area, away from tents, low hanging tree limbs, ignition sources, pathways. Remove all burnable material away from the fire area for several feet in all directions.
2. Make sure that you have dry "tinder" to start the fire with. Smaller is better. Start with small twigs and slowly work your way to larger wood. Green wood will not burn well and is not good to try and start a fire with.
3. Before you strike a match, make sure that you have enough wood at hand to keep the fire burning as someone is gathering more wood. If you are alone, have enough wood on hand to do all you need the fire to do. Never leave a fire unattended. I have seen too many people start a fire and then run to gather more wood only to return and find the fire has used up all the starter wood and gone out.
4. If you are cooking with your fire, coals cook better than flames. Flames are unreliable and can burn the food. As your fire grows, move the coals to one side, preferably the side that the smoke is not going to. As you cook, you can rake more coals from the fire to your cooking area.
5. When you are finished with your fire, pour water onto the fire and stir the coals with a stick. Continue to do this until the fire is completely out and there are no more glowing coals. If it is cool enough to touch, it is cool enough to leave. Many forest fires are started by unattended fires that campers "thought" were out.
6. Be safe. Allow no running or playing with or near the fire area.