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