We had a big outdoor event and after the public was gone, to unwind, the staff lit the bonfire. This involved a year long accumulation of brush, tree trimmings, cardboard, scrap lumber, and anything else flammable we had encountered. The pile was 30 feet across by 100 feet long by 15 feet high. We lit one end then watched it grow.
There was no toasting of marshmallows on that conflagration! You could have incinerated a hippo. Soon a half dozen cop cars plus 5 fire trucks came up, sirens screaming, to our gate. Motorists a mile away on the interstate had called it in as a “major structure fire”. We let them in, thinking entertainment value. Sure enough! They all ran around, suited up, then took their all-wheel-drive brush truck out and pumped 800 gallons of fire suppressant foam onto it. Didn’t even dim it. It was providing full color vision 100 yards away.
Frustrated, the firemen called for a tanker, which arrived in half an hour. Then they went out and pumped another 800 gallons on my little baby fire. It had as much effect as a man pissing into a Bessemer furnace. Now they’re really upset, so they send the tanker out for a refill. Meantime they’re hanging around, really harshing a good buzz, 'cause who’s gonna smoke any more in front of all those cops and frustrated firemen? They wouldn’t even accept our offers of (alcoholic) drinks. So we really wanted them to just go away.
When the tanker got back and filled the pumper, I fired up the back hoe and led the way. I ripped the fire apart, spread it out, and the pumper hosed the bits. Between us we got it out. And everybody left! Back to party!
After that we never let a burn pile get bigger than a house. More stuff went on a new pile. That way the fire would be “fully involved and in burn down” and after some watching they’d leave us alone.
Yeah, kind of sad. Language does evolve, but if that’s the new terminology, then what will people say to talk about the huge bonfires we are describing? Just modify it with “gigantic” or something? I suppose that gets the job done, but to me the very word “bonfire” is a cool word that is very evocative. Clearly to my wife if it is evocative at all, it is of something else. Something much more chill and small scale.
To my mind, a bonfire is big and more celebratory than functional. But having grown up in the suburbs, apart from having too much starter fluid in the BBQ grill, the biggest fires were leaves that we raked in the gutters. And it was 50+ years ago. It wouldn’t happen in the same neighborhood today because there are too many cars parked along the road.
The only appropriate activities around bonfires is staying the hell away from them once they’re lit.
As scouts, we built one which involved three pickup loads of old pallets. Pallets are perfect firewood. Enough airspace but the wood is also close enough to radiate the heat. We made two stacks next to each other 20 feet high. It was out in the desert so no problems about fire departments. The heat was intense. Fun things to do when you’re 12.
The most dangerous one was a fire that my cousin and I actually refused to light. We had cleared out their huge backyard of mountains of bone-dry bush and dead trees. The stack reached the eaves of the nearby garage. His mother insisted on burning it and we wouldn’t. My cousin got into a shouting match and stormed off. Unfortunately personally loyalty ensured that I go with him so I missed the fire which almost burned down the neighbor’s house. She got cited for it.
It does not, though you’re far from alone in thinking that. As I noted above, it’s from “bonefire”, which was literally a fire in which bones were burnt. The term seems to have originated with ceremonial fires on certain religious occasions–which might account for the persistent association of bonfires with celebrations.
I have always thought it came from “baune”. It was a big signal fire you lit to warn people that the enemy was near (whatever enemy, in Denmark it was usually Swedes or Germans). There are many hills in Denmark called this-or-that baune hill (baunehøj).
If my guess is right, it answers the question. It’s a fire, large enough to be seen for miles (if on a hill). None of those sissy little fires will arouse the whole county.
Huh. I’ve never heard of size or intensity being a prerequisite for bonfirehood. I always thought of it as just any old outdoor fire lit on purpose, for any reason (warmth, fun, celebration, to keep mosquitos away, to burn leaves, to cook food, etc).
Exactly. In ascending order, we might have a campfire. Or a larger ‘open fire’. Chestnuts could roast on one of these. But when we get to ‘bonfire’ we’re talking about a different order of magnitude entirely. A fire capable of incinerating objects far more massive than some tree nuts. Personally I find “provides sufficient light for full color vision at a distance” to help make the distinction. Words like ‘huge’ don’t sound right when adjacent to ‘bonfire’. The word is descriptive enough by itself.
… bonfire - ** bonfire** – ** BONFIRE** - BONFIRE
Most people these days live in urban or suburban settings, and so have likely never experienced a true BONFIRE. Sigh. I’m sorry for them.
'Bout 25 years ago, I volunteered at a summer camp run by the county. Four two-week blocks, first week in the county and second week out in Prince William Forest. Always a bonfire on the last night of the second week with the biggest bonfire on the last night of the season.
Each bonfire was constructed by standing a bunch of large branches into a conical shape and filling in gaps with small branches. I’m 6’2" and the unlit piles reached higher than me. The last one must’ve been at least 8’.
Damn you, fire department! I blame Obama.
