The Burn Pile and Incinerator

I created two different posts on this subject and including them both below...

One of my favorite memories from childhood was starting fires with permission!  Burning was legal then and we had what we called the "burn pile" where we burned leaves and branches.  And next to it was the "incinerator"...a wire cage with a lid where we burned any trash that would burn.

The burn pile was fun for the size of the fires we could get going but to me the incinerator was where the action was.  Wax milk cartons would burn bluish-green and drip.  This is where I would use accelerants like bug spray on a paper towel to get things going.

We used a wheelbarrow to haul things to the burn pile.  I remember the neighbors behind coming up to check on us once because of the size fire got so big.  How nice to not have to bundle and tie wood and put to the curb.

Growing up we didn't have a "burn ban".  Fall was certainly a time when smoke was in the air and it's a smell I remember fondly.  Think of a campfire smell.  But we didn't just burn leaves in the fall (how handy to rake into a pile and haul to the burn pile).  Not only did we burn leaves and limbs, but we separated our trash and burned what we thought would burn.

Behind our garage, we had two different locations where items were burned.  One was referred to as the "burn pile" and the other the "incinerator".  The burn pile was a mound of ash with stones around the edge to create a circle.  You could see shale and other rock exposed on the ground and I was told that was part of a turnaround or part of the original driveway.  The incinerator was a metal "cage" with a lid about the size of a garbage can.  This is where the trash was burned.

Imagine being a young boy and you were told (and entrusted) to light matches and set things on fire...and then watch!

We got some pretty good piles going on the burn pile with leaves but also any limbs or sticks we picked up (picking up sticks was an actual chore we had).  Keep in mind this was behind our garage and right next to some bushes so flame management was key.

As far as burning trash, it was fun to see things burn different colors (like waxy containers).  My parents didn't know this but there were many times I added an accelerant like bug spray to jump start things.  Typically, I would roll a paper towel and stick it in a hole in the caging and that would be my fuse.

A separate but related chore usually handled by my dad was burning off some tall grass behind the garage.  You see this with crops or tall grasses where farmers do controlled burns.  This was not a big patch but was right next to the garage.  I had this task one year and I don't remember if I wasn't watching or generally goofing around but the neighbors behind came up and let us know about a fire and honestly I don't remember how close I was to burning down the garage.  Kids!