Campfire

A fire is rarely just a fire. It is warmth, light, a gathering point, a kitchen and a drying rack in one. With a little practice and dry wood it is not hard either — but the law and nature ask something of you, and it is your responsibility to know what.

The three rules of fire

To get a fire going you need three things at the same time:

1. Combustible material — dry wood. Wet or fresh wood does not burn properly until the water has evaporated, and it gives smoke, heat loss and a poor fire. Rotten wood is often damp — avoid it.
2. Oxygen — the fire has to breathe. The most common beginner’s mistake is to stack the fire too tightly. Leave light air gaps so that air can reach it from every direction.
3. A heat source — a match, a lighter or a ferro rod to start it. Once the fire is burning, it keeps itself warm — but you have to stack it so that the burning logs throw heat to one another.

Find wood and a suitable fire site →

Dry birch bark and small twigs first

Classic lighting:

1. Dry birch bark or other easily combustible material (dry moss, resinous spruce sticks) as tinder
2. Small twigs and sticks (toothpick to pencil thick) as kindling
3. Medium-sized logs (thumb to arm thick)
4. Large logs you add once the fire is established

Check that the bark is bone dry — it crackles if you rub it. Even on a wet day you can find dry bark under birch bark or on hollow trees. The twigs low down on spruce trees are often dry even in rain — snap them off the branch to check.

Fire types

Different purposes call for different fires:

• Pagoda fire (stacked in a square, lit at the top) — best in the wet or with snow, also works as a cooking fire
• Pyramid fire (stacked like a tipi) — the classic gathering fire, gives good warmth
• Nying (a long, narrow fire between two lying logs) — for a sleeping fire or long-lasting heat

Fire types — pyramid, pagoda, nying →

Cooking on the fire

The fire becomes a kitchen when cooking is part of the outing — pancakes, pieces of fish, soup, twist bread. Directly over the flame for the difficult things, over embers for steadier cooking. Pack a cast-iron frying pan if you want anything other than packet food.

Cooking on the fire → · Packing lists →

The fire site — where and how

Use an existing fire site where there is one. Every new fire site leaves marks that last for years.

If you have to make a new one:

• Choose open, mineral-rich ground — sand, gravel, clean soil. Never on moss, heather or lichen (the fire can melt down into the ground and keep burning)
• Never on bare rock — the heat splits the rock and leaves lasting black, scorched marks
• Build a ring of lighter stones (not slate or rock that holds moisture — it can explode). Put the stones back after use
• Distance to vegetation — at least 4–5 metres to anything combustible, more in dry weather

After use:

• Put it out thoroughly — water until all the ash is cold (not just the surface ash)
• Spread the cold ash thinly over a larger area, or in a stream if there is one
• Put the stones back
• Check once more — you often find small embers that survived the first round

Law and rights

Allemannsretten lets you light a fire in utmark outside the fire ban period. Within the fire ban period you need the owner’s permission, and it must be safe.

On private ground (innmark, garden, cabin plot) the owner decides. At a fire site run by a municipality or a hiking association — check the rules posted on site.

Do not fell living trees to get wood — it is forbidden on common land and poor friluftsliv everywhere. Gather dead wood from the ground or dry twigs from trees. By all means bring wood from home if you are unsure what you will find.

Safety

• Never leave the fire unattended — not even for a short trip to the water
• Keep water nearby — always
• A fire in your shoes or clothes can be put out with soil or water; a fire on the skin calls for a quick wrap in wet cloth and cooling
• Smoke can be worse than the flames in close quarters — keep upwind if the smoke turns towards you

Learn more

• Find wood and a suitable fire site
• Fire types
• Cooking on the fire
• Tasks — fire

Related equipment: Fire-starting kit — lighter and matches · Fire for cooking · Twig stove

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Text: Bjørn Henrik Stavdal Johansen and Gina Wigestrand, Snuitide (2022), revised 2026.

Key resources: Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap (DSB) — bålregler · Norsk Friluftsliv — sporløs ferdsel