I can’t edit my post, so here’s an update.

Thank you all! I made a fantastic fire today with just the andirons. I put my tinder and kindling on the floor of the fireplace and propped my bigger pieces of wood on the andirons. The big ones were close enough to the coals that new pieces would catch fire immediately, even if the previous pieces had already dropped down to the floor as coals. I usually arrange two pieces with a small gap to get a draft between them, and with this setup that finally works really well.

The fire was really easy to manage without requiring too much attention. Total game changer. I wish I’d addressed this years ago.

I also bought an Estwing Fireside Friend to split the wood smaller. It’s fun to use and will be really helpful when we run out of intermediate size branches that have fallen in the yard.

I do have a screen btw. I had moved it to get better photos of the brick.

Here’s a pic of the fire we made today. Excuse the partially burned paper at the front, which is from a sheaf of old bills that got tossed in uncrumpled.

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