The Right Ingredients
Before you build your first fire, be sure you've got the following:

• A chimney that is cleaned and inspected annually.
• A clean firebox or woodstove floor.
• Dry, seasoned firewood that is cut to an appropriate length and split to an appropriate width.
• Dry kindling,  finely split and in a variety of sizes.
• Several sheets of uncoated, non-colored newspaper. 

What Not to Burn
Remember, what you burn is what you breathe. Never burn any of the following:

• Construction lumber, especially pressure-treated wood, which can cause illness and even death.
• Painted or stained lumber, which often contains lead.
• Garbage, which can contain heavy metals and plastic.

Set The Fire Properly
To set a fire properly, follow these guidelines:

1. First, open the damper of the fireplace or the door of the woodstove/woodstove insert. If you feel a cold draft, your chimney is drafting downward, and you'll need to warm up the chimney before lighting your fire. This is explained in step 4.
2. Next, place several sheets of newspaper (tightly wadded) on the fireplace grate or stove floor. Tip: You'll need less newspaper if your kindling is ultra-dry and fine. But don't be afraid to be generous with the newspaper, especially as you build your first few fires.
3. In the middle of the fireplace or stove, build a "kindling structure" by laying four to five kindling sticks atop each other in a criss-cross pattern. Add larger wood atop and to the side of the kindling until your stove or fireplace is about 2/3 full.
4. If you determined in step one that your chimney is drafting upwards, you can start the fire by lighting the newspaper. If your chimney is drafting downwards, you'll need to warm the chimney before lighting the fire.
   
   You can do this with a conventional fireplace by rolling up a piece of newspaper to create a "torch."  Then light one end of the torch and carefully hold it near the damper. It should warm up the chimney and get sucked upwards. Now start the fire by lighting the newspaper or starter in your firebox.
   
   With a woodstove or woodstove insert you can warm the chimney by placing a piece of balled newspaper high up in the stove toward the chimney. Carefully light this piece of newspaper; it should get sucked upwards immediately. Now start the fire by lighting the newspaper or starter on your woodstove floor.
    
5. Once you have lit the newspaper, stand back and ensure the fire catches properly. The burning paper produces enough heat to ignite the kindling; the burning kindling produces enough  heat to ignite the small logs; and the small burning logs produce enough heat to ignite larger logs. This process requires approximately fifteen minutes. Be sure to closely monitor your fire during this time to ensure your fire has enough heat and oxygen to "catch."