Starting fires indoors (in some locations)

[TOMARSE]

It's sub-zero temperatures outside. You are freezing but in an abandoned cabin/trailer etc but you have to go outside to light a fire? Yes, normally you would not light up a fire in a building but as the game implies, this is NOT a normal situation. Particularly if you have a metal box handy (instant "fireplace"). Just sayin'. There's definitely the possibility of burning down your shelter but you were going to be forced outside to build your fire in the first place right???

[ernestww]

At the loggong camp in ML, if it was RL, I might tear that wood stove out of the falling down shack and stuff it in one of the trailers and jury-rig a stove pipe out the wall.

[TOMARSE]

Couldn't agree more.

[KTC11]

You're also forgetting asphyxiation from smoke that would occur in the cabins and trailers... not that you shouldn't be able to asphyxiate yourself if you want.

[TOMARSE]

Trust me, those cabins are not THAT sealed, LOL. Punching a hole in the roof would not be an issue in RL. If it works for tepees......... ;)

[JErosion]

some of us are hoping for a Kerosen Stove in the future

[Hotzn]

Punching a hole into the ceiling and lighting a fire in a metal box on the floor would not work. The smoke would drive you out of the trailer/cabin before you even get any warmth from the fire.

Now installing a stove with a pipe to lead the smoke outside is something different. But ripping the stove out, carrying it over to a trailer and installing it there? You would need some good tools at least to do that. Also some stoves are really heavy. Possible, but not easy to do.

[umpisusi]

Agreed, let us kill ourselves with carbon monoxide and burn the houses down, if we choose to do so. :) In all seriousness, at least you should be able to light a fire inside the abandoned mine.

[TOMARSE]

Hmmm, a tepee had a hole in the 'roof'. It seemed to work for them. Regardless, I think certain "indoor" locations (i.e. the cavernous dam building) should be exceptions.

[bethany]

Originally posted by TOMARSE:

Hmmm, a tepee had a hole in the 'roof'. It seemed to work for them. Regardless, I think certain "indoor" locations (i.e. the cavernous dam building) should be exceptions.

Because I think this is actually kind of interesting, I'll share this:

Tipis are actually built with ventilation in mind. Their design and structure is specifically crafted to allow for fires, among other things. It's very clever, and very different from a "normal" structure.

I was going to link to this, but I'll just post the relevant Q & A instead.

Q: How is it possible to have a fire in a tipi and not get 'smoked-out'?

A: With the bottom edge of the tipi cover about 6 to 8 inches above the ground, and with the bottom of the liner snugged to the ground, it is necessary for the air to flow up between the two layers of fabric, and over the top of the liner, to get into the tipi. When you light your fire, the hot air (& smoke) from the fire rises up through the smoke flap opening and "draws" outside "cool" air into the tipi - between the two layers of fabric and over the top of the liner. This flow of air, from all around the circumference, and at the top of the liner, spills down into the tipi and "crowds" the hot air to the center. Therefore the smoke rises directly over the fire and is exhausted out through the smoke flap opening without any problem with smoke in the tipi, unless green wood is used and the fire is allowed to die down to the point that there is not enough heat to "lift" the smoke out of the tipi.

[Hotzn]

Or tipis would have an underground "pipe" surfacing under the fireplace. The effect would be the same, it all follows a simple principle - air that is going out the top to carry away the smoke needs to be replaced with outside air (=cold air). In a teepee, the ventilation process is kept alive by the conical structure and the fire being in the centre. If the inside structure is different, you need a pipe or chimney guiding the smoke outside. That't why houses have chimneys and not open fireplaces with a hole in the roof. Also keep in mind that any hole in the roof would have to be closed whenever the fire is not burning, as otherwise further warmth will escape through it.