(I was only loosely associated with fire team this burn, but have done the ordering in the past.)

Believe it or not, the fire wood is one of the largest single costs of doing the burn. Because of that, we try to be a _little_ conservative so money is not wasted. It is also hard to forecast the need; people burn more when it's cold, but not when it's cold and wet - fewer people show up, and lots of those that don't want to be hanging outside in the rain even if it's around a fire. Also the number of large theme camps can make a huge difference in the amount burned, and the burning art artists are not always on the mark about how much wood their piece is going to need. So it's pretty tough to call. And it just gets harder as the ticket cap goes up.

We've had fall burns with cords of wood leftover, and while that gets donated to the vets, that's money that does zero to make a better burn or work toward future ones (such as by buying land). Ideally we would have a little left over, but sometimes things work together to mean we run out early. This time the main stack used less wood than usual, which should have given us extra, but it was clear and cold, and there were more theme camps than I have EVER seen at a fall burn (Yeah!), so...

It is already stated on the PDF web site (and I believe in the theme camp info), that if you want to make sure you have enough wood, bring extra. While wood is provided, there is no guarantee due to all the variables.

Your idea for theme camps being able to order wood through our vendor is a good one. We have done that in that past for folks doing burning art, can't see why we can't do something like that for everyone else as long as someone volunteers to organize it, handle the money process, coordinate it with fire team, and handle on-site distribution.

But most importantly, git thee to a planning meeting! We make PDF what it is, it is not done for us. While Cameron may have been cranky, he was 100% correct.

And thanks to all for a GREAT burn!

You'd be better off to bring non treated wood than add price. Price (as you know) is always an issue. That too may be something to think about. I'd pay five more for sure. I think raising the price overall could work if there are say more hardship tickets or a tier system. Not sure.

Maybe we should think about combining forces outside of the org to bring more wood. There are ways to do it, we always do.

Do-ocracy.

I totally agree that self reliance is really the best route to solve this. Enough with depending on "the process" to make it happen. That's the point. Hope that makes sense.

This is true. But we also need enough wood. When we run out people scavenge the property and burn anything flammable. I saw vet-dump scavenged dimensional lumber being burned the last two fall PDFs, some of which was treated lumber. Mmmmmm! The heavy metals give it a tangy zing! :)

I remember we used to have a TON of wood. I know its more expensive now, but maybe we should look for another supplier? There are more people attending now, and LESS wood.

Look at the pony in 06, look at that metric assload of wood.

www.flickr.com/photos/lar...4565524198/

Notice the man standing right next to the fire in the spaceman fire suit. That is a BIG STACK.

In 07:

www.flickr.com/photos/lar...0846116191/
Still kinda big.

In 08:

www.flickr.com/photos/lar...5371063539/
SMALL!

Beyond the back dumpster was a stack of torn-down roof trusses and other woody debris that Pineapple specifically said PDF was welcome to cut up, haul and burn.

First I grabbed the white wicker chairs out of the pile, used them in 'Back Gate" camp for the weekend and burned the busted ones at Barrel of Fun Sunday night to keep warm. BoF also used a decent amount of this wood for "The Ascent!" tribute burn on Sunday night. They cut it to length and hauled it themselves. Yeah, thanks! Plus some other burnbarrels used up some of it, but we barely made a dent in that free pile, or in the pile of pallet wood beside the PDF Shed.
Granted, this 'salvage lumber' has not the same romance of 'real firewood' but it burned, it saved landfill costs, it was free to PDF, and just cost the user/burner some labor to haul it and/or cut it to length. There was an electric saw there most of the weekend for whomever had the gumption.
As for the "official" cord wood, the prices have been increasing about 8% per year, but assuming we raise the ticket price by the same proportion, we should be able to follow the guideline of 1.2345 cords of hardwood (with up to 7.666% softwood) per each hundred people in the Ticket Cap.
1,000 people = 10 hundred people
10 X 1.2345 = 12.345 cords of firewood.
I think 11 cords of conventional logs were delivered for Fall PDF 09. Add to that about 1/2 cord of pallet wood from a Bangarang donation, plus a little over 1/2 cord of wood used from the Vets 'debris wood' pile in the back. Right on target?

That's 0.012345 cords per ticket buyer. What's a tenth of a cord? 4ftx4ftx8ft= 128 cubic feet divided by . I'm guessing 1.28 cubic feet is about the size of one of those plastic-wrapped bundles from Acme or SuperFresh they sell for $4.95 each, right? Maybe about half a dozen logs per person? Glad we don't buy it THAT way...think of all the plastic wrappers...would be 1,000 of them! SO WHILE I'm THINKING OF IT...why don't they use hemp burlap bags instead of poly shrink-wrap? Wouldn't that be better for the environment? Visualize how many of those 'boutique bundles' go into suburban and urban fireplaces nationwide, or onto campgrounds?

Patent Title: Firewood package
Patent ID: US4289237
Issue Date: September 15, 1981
Patent Abstract: A firewood package suitable for merchandising in stores is disclosed. The package is made up of a generally cylindrical bundle of lengths of firewood tightly encircled by a strap. A film of a plastic material is secured around the generally curved surface of the bundle while leaving both ends of the bundle exposed. The plastic material is perforated to permit air to circulate into and through the bundle by way of the perforations and open ends of the bundle. The package also includes a handle for convenient carrying.

See also: www.hud-son.com/firewood_b...article.htm Maybe PDF should buy one of these to make it easier for the people in the back to haul their logs from the Main Stack? NOT! Bring a sling or a cart, please.

If the Ticket Cap goes to 1,250 then an additional 25% more firewood will be ordered, I betcha!

FYI - I'm not in charge of ordering logs or pallet wood; I just help deliver and stack and burn it! Ordering it is a BoD Planning Committee, Burning Arts Coordinator and Treasurer COMBINED effort; the Fire Team just has a small budget for sheet steel and misc. safety/cleanup tools, but does not order the firewood. Attend, or call into, one of the many PDF Planning Meetings to be part of upgrading or streamlining the "Get-us-enough-wood-to-burn" formula. Of course, PDF is also a non-profit organization [501c3 I think?] and so if you want to donate an advance sum of money to go to buying JUST more firewood than the current formula orders...Be A Hero! I agree with both James and Dusty; we need more Fall firewood usually; we'd save what we leave from Spring PDF's but who wants to lug it to the shed? AND we do not want the Vets to sell us 'bundles'...ICE BAGS GOOD! Bundles BAD!