Not all firewood is the same. What to know before you light a campfire or fireplace

When it comes to campfires and fireplaces, most of us have a lot we could learn. Foresters, arborists, entomologists, and plant pathologists make pretty good guides, and there’s an abundance of good information online. However, just to get the ball rolling, I thought I’d jot down a few of the random facts you might find of value.

▪ Not all firewoods burn at the same temperature, nor do they burn for the same lengths of time. Oaks are probably our best types locally, followed by pecans. Hickory is great where it’s native, but you don’t see it here as often as you do farther east. Mesquite is dense and long-lasting when you’re able to get it.

By comparison, woods like cottonwood, willows, pines and American elm burn faster and put out less heat in the process. When they’re all you can find, that does enter the picture, but the others are preferable whenever possible.

▪ Some woods throw off dangerous sparks as they burn, therefore they aren’t safe for use in a fireplace. Most notable among those is the wood of Maclura pomifera, otherwise known as bois d’arc, hedge apple, or Osage orange. Its wood is very dense, and it burns quite slowly, but it’s a light show in the process. The sparks are dangerous on carpets and wood flooring, even out the tops of chimneys onto dry leaves on the ground.

▪ Firewood can harbor fatal insect and disease problems that might threaten species’ total existence. The most devastating example was Dutch elm disease which came into the United States in the 1930s in infected logs, then killed majestic American elms that lined city streets across the eastern half of the country.

More recently we have been seeing Emerald ash borers wipe out entire forests of ash trees across the eastern United States. Ash trees were commonly seen along the edges of the taller maple, oak, and other hardwood forests in the Midwest, and I recall seeing scores of miles of dead trees along the highways as we traveled to see relatives in Ohio 15 years ago. Now this insect has made its way into Texas, first in Harrison County (Marshall) in East Texas in 2016, and now confirmed in 24 counties including Denton and Tarrant Counties in recent years.

I’ve personally witnessed the loss of all my native western soapberries (Sapindus drummondii) due to soapberry borers about 10 years ago. Since that time a couple of new seedling trees have managed to survive. That first round of borers finished off the host trees then apparently died or moved on. So far so good on the new seedlings, but I suspect they, too, will eventually succumb. This pest, native to Mexico, was first observed in eastern Travis County in 2003. It has spread across the state in a hurry.

▪ The USDA Forest Service, state forest services, and other organizations have joined forces to fight the spread of insects and diseases via firewood. The organization dontmovefirewood.org tells us we should burn all firewood on or near the site where it has been gathered. Many counties forbid transport of firewood across county lines.

▪ If you’re buying firewood from a vendor alongside the road, ask where the wood was harvested. Check your maps to be sure it’s being sold legally.

▪ Do not store stacked firewood alongside your house or deck. Wood-boring larvae may get into the logs, and in some cases that could give them quick entry into wooden parts of your home.

▪ Cover firewood piles, especially oak, with clear plastic (not black). That will make it more difficult for borers to get into the logs in the first place, and it will make it more difficult for the adult beetles to find their ways out should holes develop. If the piles were covered with black polyethylene they would be able to see the small spots of light as they escape.

▪ National Parks and National Forests ask that we not bring firewood within their boundaries. They tell us the threat of our bringing in problems that weren’t already there is simply too great.

▪ Fireplace ashes are very alkaline. People are constantly asking if they can work the ashes into their garden soils, but if we’re talking about the black clay gumbo soils here in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex, those soils are already alkaline in their own right. Adding ashes to them merely compounds the problems. You need to send the fully cooled ashes off with the trash to the landfill.

This story was originally published January 31, 2025 at 5:50 AM.