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Apollo NZ GlobalStart Project Brief

Apollo NZ Global · Knowledge Centre · Fire, Fuel & Live Cooking

Understand the fire before you build around it.

Learn how fuel, airflow, moisture, smoke, embers, wind, fire-weather conditions and cooking heat zones change the way an outdoor fire behaves. Use the cluster for fire pits, wood-fired ovens and live-fire cookers before moving into the product or project pathway.

QUESTION→KNOWLEDGE→DECISION→PRODUCT→PROJECT BRIEF

Find a Knowledge resource

Search this Fire, Fuel & Live Cooking cluster.

22 resources

Cornerstone guides

Start with the complete decision, not a single product feature.

These 7 resources cover the main planning questions in this knowledge cluster.

01Cornerstone guide

Understanding Live Fire: Fuel, Air, Heat & Control

Learn how fuel, airflow, heat, moisture, ember formation and fire size shape an outdoor wood fire before choosing a fire pit, pizza oven or live-fire cooker.

Open guide 02Fire pit planning

Backyard Fire Pit Planning Guide

Plan an outdoor fire pit around placement, combustible surroundings, wind, smoke, supervision, extinguishing, burn restrictions and the actual product instructions.

Open guide 03Fuel guide

Seasoned Firewood & Moisture Guide

Understand why dry seasoned firewood, moisture content, splitting, stacking and airflow matter for cleaner, hotter and more predictable outdoor wood fires.

Open guide 04Ember guide

Embers, Sparks, Wind & Wildfire-Aware Fire Use

Plan outdoor fire use around wind, dry vegetation, ember travel, spark generation, wildfire conditions, burn restrictions and controlled extinguishing.

Open guide 05Cooking guide

Live-Fire Cooking: Heat Zones, Coals & Timing

Learn how flame, coal beds, plancha heat zones, oven heat and fuel management create different live-fire cooking conditions for outdoor cooking.

Open guide 06Wildfire resilience

Wildfire Home Ignition Zone Guide

Understand the Home Ignition Zone, ember pathways, defensible space and the near-building conditions that can influence whether a home ignites during wildfire exposure.

Open guide 07Ember resilience

Ember-Resistant Home & Outdoor Living Guide

Review roofs, gutters, vents, decks, fences, firewood, outdoor furniture and near-building landscape as connected ember and ignition pathways.

Open guide

Specific answers

Find a focused answer to a narrower project question.

Each answer stays focused, then links to the relevant guide, tool or product pathway.

Burn Ban vs Red Flag Warning: What Should You Check Before Lighting a Fire?A burn ban and a Red Flag Warning are not the same thing. One may legally restrict burning; the other warns that weather and fuel conditions can support rapid fire spread. Either can change whether lighting an outdoor fire is appropriate.Read answer How Dry Should Firewood Be?For cleaner, hotter and more predictable burning, firewood should be properly seasoned and dry. Moisture content is more useful than age alone because storage and species can change how quickly wood actually dries.Read answer Why Does Wet Wood Smoke More?Wet wood forces the fire to spend energy evaporating water before the fuel can burn efficiently. The result is often slower ignition, lower combustion temperature, more smoke and less predictable cooking heat.Read answer How Should Ash and Embers Be Handled After an Outdoor Fire?A fire is not finished when the flame disappears. Ash can insulate hot embers for a long time, so shutdown and disposal need the same level of control as lighting the fire.Read answer Wood Fire vs Charcoal: Which Is Better for Outdoor Cooking?Wood and charcoal are not interchangeable experiences. Wood gives flame, evolving embers and aromatic combustion; charcoal can provide a more compact and stable coal bed. The cooker should be designed for the fuel actually being used.Read answer How Do You Control Heat on a Live-Fire Plancha?A circular plancha is useful because it creates a gradient rather than one uniform cooking temperature. The cook manages the fire and moves food through hotter and cooler zones.Read answer Fire Pit vs Outdoor Fireplace: What Changes?The main difference is not simply appearance. An open fire pit radiates into a gathering circle, while a fireplace format can direct heat and smoke differently and may introduce chimney, flue, support and enclosure considerations.Read answer Can You Use a Fire Pit Under a Pergola or Covered Patio?A roof changes the fire environment. Heat can accumulate, smoke can be trapped and combustible or heat-sensitive components can sit above the flame. There is no universal website answer that makes every fire pit suitable beneath every pergola.Read answer What Is Defensible Space Around a Home?Defensible space is the managed area around a structure where vegetation, debris and other fuels are arranged and maintained to reduce fire intensity and improve the chance that the home can resist wildfire exposure.Read answer What Is Zone Zero Around a Wildfire-Exposed Home?Zone Zero is a term increasingly used for the first roughly five feet around a structure and attached elements. The concept is simple: the closer combustible material sits to the building, the easier it can be for a small ember ignition to become a structure fire.Read answer How Do Decks, Fences and Firewood Affect Wildfire Risk?Wildfire risk often develops through connections. An ember lands in debris beneath a deck, a fence ignites near the wall, or a woodpile sits where radiant heat and embers can reach it. Each element matters because of what it can ignite next.Read answer Why Do Roofs, Gutters and Vents Matter During Wildfire?A home does not need direct flame contact to ignite. Wind-driven embers can land on roofs, collect in debris and enter openings, which is why roofs, gutters, vents and eaves receive so much attention in wildfire home-hardening guidance.Read answer Post-Wildfire Re-entry & Property Recovery GuideRecovery starts only after the responsible authority says re-entry is permitted. A property that looks intact can still have damaged utilities, hot debris, unstable trees or structures, smoke contamination and water-system concerns that need qualified inspection.Read answer

Planning tools

Turn research into a usable project brief.

Use the tools to structure the site, system and project questions Apollo needs before quotation and project review.

01

Before You Light

Run a conservative same-day check for burn restrictions, fire-weather warnings, wind, dry surroundings, product instructions, extinguishing readiness and supervision.

Open tool 02

Wildfire Home Walkaround

Walk the Home Ignition Zone from the building outward and flag ember-entry, debris, decks, fences, firewood, vegetation and seasonal maintenance issues.

Open tool 03

Wildfire Property Intelligence

Map the building, immediate zone, nearby fuels, landscape and continuity systems, then visualise how embers or flame could move from one element to the next.

Open tool 04

Smoke & Clean-Air Refuge Planner

Coordinate a closable room, filtration, outdoor-air control, heat, power and communications for wildfire-smoke periods when staying indoors is appropriate.

Open tool 05

Wildfire Season Checklist

Run a recurring maintenance review before fire season, on elevated fire-weather days and after wind or property changes.

Open tool 06

Climate Exposure Selector

Bring wind, coastal exposure, heat, rain and severe-weather context into the project before fixing the fire or cooking location.

Open tool 07

Cooking Under Roof Check

Review heat, smoke, ventilation, enclosure and clearance questions when fire or cooking sits beneath a roof or pavilion.

Open tool 08

Apollo Project Intelligence

Carry destination, exposure, selected systems, evidence gaps and project unknowns into one coordinated project review.

Open tool

Handbook pathways

Use a structured reading path when the project is larger than one question.

These web handbooks bring related Apollo planning resources together in one reading path.

The Apollo Fire Handbook: From Fuel to Final Ember

A structured reading path through fire behaviour, firewood, smoke, embers, fire-weather conditions, fire pit planning, live-fire cooking and shutdown.

Open handbook

Wildfire-Aware Home Handbook

A structured wildfire-resilience reading path covering home ignition zones, defensible space, ember entry, decks, fences, firewood, roofs, gutters, vents and seasonal inspection.

Open handbook

Related Knowledge pathways

Keep the project connected when the question crosses systems.

Use a related knowledge area when the next decision crosses into another product or project category.

Outdoor Kitchens & Entertaining

Carry fire, fuel and cooking decisions into kitchen layout, services, shelter and appliance coordination.

Open Knowledge pathway

Outdoor Living & Architecture

Coordinate open flame, roof systems, side enclosure, landscape, drainage and surrounding materials.

Open Knowledge pathway

Climate & Global Projects

Bring wind, heat, drought, severe weather and destination conditions into the fire-use decision.

Open Knowledge pathway

From planning to product

Understand the fire first. Choose the product second.

Use Fire Knowledge for combustion, firewood, smoke, ember, weather and live-fire technique; Fire & Cooking for the current product pathways; Technical Resources for verified product evidence; and Project Intelligence for site-specific coordination.

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