On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my Country and to obey the Scout Law;  To help other people at all times;  And to keep myself physically stong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

The skill of being able to build a fire is a very important one.  Not only can a fire cook your food, but it can keep you warm on a cold night and boost your spirits on a rainy day.

To build and maintain a fire, there are three essential pieces known as the "fire triangle."  Oxygen is perhaps the most important of all.  A combustion reaction is not possible in the absence of oxygen, so a fire needs to be able to breath.  An ignition source, such as matches or flint and steel, is needed to start the fire.  Fuel is needed to keep the fire burning once a flame has been kindled.

There are three types of materials used to build a fire.  Tinder is the smallest and is used to ignite the fire.  Tinder can be hay, bark, or anything small and highly combustible.  Kindling is the term given to small sticks and twigs about the thickness of a pencil.  Fuel is anything that is essentially larger than your thumb, but generally characterized as being thicker than ones wrist.

It is important to make sure the wood that you are using is dead and not "green."  Green wood is not green in color, but refers to living wood.  If a stick breaks in half when snapped, it is dead.  If the stick only cracks and has to be ripped or twisted apart to seperate the two pieces, it is most likely green.

One must be careful when building a fire.  A bucket of water should be kept by the fire and a fire guard should be watching the flames at all times.  An area of 10 feet around the fire circle should be clear of anything flamable.  Make sure there aren't any overhanging branches of burnable materials.  Never burn poison ivy in a fire, it is very harmful if not fatal if inhaled in smoke.

There are numerous types of fires that you can use depending on your needs.  If you want a quick fire, use a teepee.  If you need a good cooking fire, use a hunter's fire.  If you desire a fire to last through the night and keep you warm, use a log cabin or pyramid fire.  Other fire designs include the keyhole which is a good cooking fire as well and the lean-too fire which is easy to build.

When extinguishing your fire, pour water over the coals and stir them around.  Make sure all the remaining fuel logs have been seperated from the coals.  When the fire appears to be dead out, touch the coals with the back of your hand to see if it is cool or cold.  If it is, your fire is out.  If you get burned, repeat the process.