FIREWALKING – Instructions for a 5 meter walk. MATERIALS REQUIRED 3 pairs of safety glasses 3 pairs of leather work gloves Rake with approximately 2 meter handle Shovel with approximately 2 meter handle Piece of wet carpet approximately 1 meter × 1 meter Dry towel Supply of wood*, approximately 1 cord, (about 2 cubic meters.) NO NAILS Scrap paper, (approximately 6 “New York Times” or equivalent amount.) Approximately 2 gallons of vegetable oil, kerosene or lamp oil. NOT GASOLINE. Readily available supply of water for wetting down the surrounding area and extinguishing the fire, i.e. a hose. An “aim n flame” lighter, or equivalent, or a hand held propane torch. Metal wheel barrow, if moving coals is required. *A list of suitable woods is given in appendix A. At least two helpers will be needed to build and tend the fire. SITE CONSIDERATIONS Short grass or bare earth is a good surface on which to put the bed, clear stones from the area. Beware of grass fires. Do not put the coals directly onto concrete, soft sand nor macadam. A layer of sod at least 15cm deep can be used on top of concrete or macadam surfaces if necessary. You need a fairly level site and a cleared area of at least 35 meter × 20 meter, plus room for any camera crew or crowd that is anticipated. If a separate fire can be built, wood from it can be used to increase the window of time in which the walk may be made. A metal wheel barrow would then be needed to transport the burning coals. The wood should be like “fireplace logs”, i.e. they should be approximately 80 cm × 15 cm × 15 cm. The wood is stacked in an open structured, 5 meter long pyre and is burned in place. The spaces between the logs are stuffed with paper. Newspaper or paper from a shredder work well. Oil is then poured over the pyre. When all the materials are on site, then it takes approximately two hours to stack and another three hours to burn the wood. It is the fire, not the walker that decides when a walk may be made safely, in that different woods and different sized logs burn at different rates, hence the approximate times that are given. A sheltered place is necessary, think about the wind. Figure 1 below shows how the logs are stacked prior to burning.
Figure 1. Arrangement of logs.
If the source of wood is small blocks, the alternative method illustrated below works, but more equipment is needed. The diagram is for a 10 foot walk. The arrangement shown in Figure 2 is for the wood burning in steel 55 gallon drums. This is a convenient method to use when the wood available comes in small off-cut blocks. (We used to get 10 cm × 25 cm ×25 cm off-cuts from a furniture factory, this method worked well for them.)
Figure 2. Possible site arrangement if wood source is small blocks. Substitute wet carpet for the "wet towel or tank of water” and be careful as a lot of sparks will fly when the barrels are tipped over. An advantage of this method is that a barrel of wood can be kept burning to add to the walk when needed, this allows more flexibility in when the walk may be made. APPENDIX A. SPECIES OF FIREWOOD FOR FIREWALKING EVENTS. Cedar is probably the local wood of choice for a firewalk in Istanbul, Alder is also suitable. Red cedar is the first choice,second would be Douglas fir. Of the hardwoods, red oak and birch are good choices. Softwoods should generally be avoided for firewalking. Heat value per cord (in BTU per cord) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------HIGH, 24-31 BTU These woods are acceptable, but the “medium woods”, listed next, are better. Shagbark hickory Black locust Dogwood Slash pine Hop hornebean Persimmon Shadebush Apple White oak Honey locust Black birch Yew Blue beech Red oak Rock elm
Sugar maple American beech Yellow birch Longleaf pine White ash Oregon ash Black walnut ---------------------------------------------------------------------------MEDIUM, 20-24 BTU.
THESE ARE THE BEST WOODS FOR A FIREWALK
Red cedar- (BEST) Douglas fir- (2nd BEST) Holly Pond pine Nut pine Loblolly pine Tamarack Shortleaf pine Western larch Juniper Paper birch Red maple Cherry American elm Black gum Sycamore Gray birch Pitch pine Sassafras Magnolia Norway pine Bald cypress Chestnut ---------------------------------------------------------------------------LOW, 16-20 BTU (NO COALS, JUST ASHES.) DO NOT USE THESE WOODS Black spruce Hemlock Catalpa Red cider Tulip poplar Red fir Sitka spruce Black willow Large-tooth aspen Butternut Ponderosa pine Noble fir
Redwood Quaking aspen Sugar pine White pine Balsam fir Cottonwood Basswood Western red cedar (not the same as “red cedar”.) Balsam poplar White spruce
