Orange, yellow, and blue wisps flash through the air. Heat rolls from the flames as sparks pop and flutter to the ground. Smoke wafts through the night sky alerting everyone to the presence of the blaze. Sticks and logs quickly fall prey to the inferno that is burning. Sticks and manipulated wire hangers are used to cook hotdogs and roast marshmallows, adding to the myriad of scents assaulting the nostrils. Smoke sticks to clothing and hair transferring its smell to them. Cackling laughter drowns out the crackling of the fire as stories are shared and jokes told. The fire draws people in like moths. Its warmth cannot be denied and its reassurance is welcomed. All the stresses and tragedies of life are forgotten as the hypnosis of the flames take over. The smoke becomes less of a nuisance and more of a necessity. The inability to leave the warmth until it is time to sleep testifies to a fire’s mesmerizing power. It incites stories and laughter and fun, but also many pauses just to stare. As if after so many thousands of year’s man still cannot comprehend how something so wonderful could ever be dangerous. How could the flames be destructive?


Whether a lightning strike or chance strike of flint started the phenomenon of fire, it has kept people alive for thousands of years. Warm in the cold, fed when hungry, a match or spark can be the difference between life and death—a beautiful, wonderful, dangerous, necessity of life: fire.