The Bonfire

One of the benefits of living rurally is the option to have the occasional bonfire.

So we had one, over the Memorial Day weekend.

We had an enormous pile of brush, that has been building up for about two years. I rather wish I had taken a ‘before’ picture. Suffice it to say that the pile was taller than me and contained several largish trees.

Since it was the holiday weekend, and since the county had lifted its burn ban, we invited some friends over for a blaze and a barbeque. As soon as everyone had had their fill, we called in to Fire Control – just so they knew we’d be burning – and set the pile of sticks ablaze.

Within a few minutes it was really going.

We were ready with buckets and the hose if it was needed.

The light and heat (and sparks) put out by the fire was amazing.

We did a little dancing in front of the fire…

Then the fire quieted down and we enjoyed some S’mores.

Within an hour, light from the fire no longer dominated the yard. We were back to working under the light of the garage.

The next day, the magnitude of the heat was obvious. Look what it did to the siding on our out-building.

But what was once a huge pile was reduced to a small stack. The original burn heap filled the entire area which now lacks grass.

We worked the fire for the rest of the day and got the burn heap down to a very small pile – one wheelbarrow load – which we’ll haul off to a new site for a burn pile. After melting all the siding on our out-building, we’ve decided to re-locate the burn pile to a less… flammable part of the yard.