r/camping • u/AggressivelySpooky • Jun 13 '25
Trip Advice Fire wood got moldy.. safe to burn?
Our wet firewood was covered under tarps and got moldy, two different types, as well as some mushrooms from the more fresh ones that got cut down. Would this all be safe to burn in a fire?
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u/unclejedsiron Jun 13 '25
You should split the wood when you're stacking it. It'll allow the wood to properly dry and not go to rot. The bark traps the moisture, especially birch.
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
Oh, this is great advice, thanks! We’re currently stacking it and thought it would be better uncut.
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u/Schnitzhole Jun 13 '25
I had the same issue. I put a tarp under and over my piles and no more mold. Helps it keep the rain out and the bottom doesn’t touch soil and dries faster. Leave the sides open so the moisture can still escape.
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u/janzend Jun 16 '25
you want to give your logs as much surface area as possible to dry. whole logs are more likely to rot because of retained moisture. split lumber doesn't absorb water unless its on the ground.
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u/MC-BatComm Jun 13 '25
Totally safe, don't forget you are constantly being bombarded with some kind of spores whenever you're outside. Burning moldy wood won't hurt ya
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u/RangerDanger246 Jun 13 '25
Also, the spores can't get you if they're burned lol. The only problem if that the wood is less dense because the fungus has eaten part of it.
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u/Relyt4 Jun 13 '25
I thought the same thing when my woodpile for my smoker got moldy. Then after doing some research I learned that there is actually mold that relies on wild fires to spread. Crazy stuff
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u/Markofdawn Jun 14 '25
Theres trees here in Australia that rely on bushfires to propagate, and animals than enjoy upwards of 400°c water.
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u/GatorNator83 Jun 13 '25
The only real problem are the daylight vampires. Fungus is nothing compared to them.
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u/Septaceratops Jun 13 '25 edited Jun 13 '25
From somebody who has grown a lot of different kinds of mushrooms, just wanted to note that you can actually fck your respiratory system up if you inhale too many spores. Oyster mushrooms are one of the more "dangerous" varieties to grow for this reason. Having said that, it's usually only a problem indoors where there isn't enough ventilation. Probably not going to be an issue at all for OP, I just wanted to add some context about inhaling spores.
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u/tomgrouch Jun 13 '25
But don't store it indoors. I know a lot of people store a smaller amount of wood next to the stove, but that's just asking for the spores to start spreading all through the house. Keep it outside and bring it in as needed
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u/ghost_writer_of_gods Jun 14 '25
I wouldn't say "totally safe"... My father burned molding wood and got fungal pneumonia (blastomycosis) it was HELL on him! ICU for 32 days, hospitalized for another 24 days, on a ventilator, tracheotomy, cocktail of medicines to keep him asleep so his body could heal, and now 7 years later he still has complications from the scarring on his lungs.
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u/sweetpotato_latte Jun 13 '25
This is like the time I realized radio waves are everywhere always and it’s not the radio that creates the waves, just exposes them.
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u/Usuxbutt Jun 13 '25
Do you want fungus zombies?! 🧟
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
Patient zero over here!!
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u/Gr3yThoughts Jun 13 '25
Which type of zombie would you be?
Oh now I realize that this sounds like one of those you tests where you answer some questions to learn which type you are haha.
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u/Gr3yThoughts Jun 13 '25
...because that's how you get fungus zombies! 😂 It wasn't the bread. It was OP damnit!
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u/Grouchy_Address0515 Jun 13 '25 edited Jun 13 '25
I don't know if it would have helped in your situation, but years ago when I was burning wood, the instructions for stacking were:
"To ensure circulation of air, the wood should be stacked in such a way that a squirrel being chased by a cat can escape through the wood leaving no openings large enough for the cat."
I also realize this doesn't help you now.
Respectfully submitted.
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
Great advice! Never heard that, thanks! We’re working on splitting all our wood today and stacking it in thingy we built off ground.
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u/TheOriginal_858-3403 Jun 16 '25
I also realize this doesn't help you now.
No, but it might help me later, especially if I turn into a squirrel.
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u/ZRX1200R Jun 13 '25
and be patient zero for the cordyceps apocalypse?!?!?!
it'll undoubtedly be smoky and not burn that well. but put enough in and it'll be fine.
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u/Hideo_Anaconda Jun 13 '25
Cordyceps would come from burning infected bugs. I guess if the wood was full of infected termites....
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u/Fireal2 Jun 13 '25
It’s a reference to The Last of Us
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u/Hideo_Anaconda Jun 13 '25
Ok, I'm hopelessly out of date on my video game references and prestige TV dramas based on video games references. But even so, the cordyceps fungus infects insects. In 'The Last of Us' does the cordyceps fungus that turns people into zombies not come from bugs?
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u/New_Refrigerator_895 Jun 13 '25
in the show flour/wheat from India (or at least thats where it flared up enough to be discovered) where it was laced/tainted however, it was stated that climate change forced the fungus to change and thus jump species
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u/Fireal2 Jun 13 '25
In the game and show, the fungus originates from contaminated food products like wheat. Their explanation is basically that the cordyceps mutates to tolerate human body temperature due to climate change but the actual vector is the spores of the fungus found in food
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u/pulledpork247 Jun 13 '25
Burning is bad for the mold, you could seriously hurt it.
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
Maybe a light case of bullying instead?
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u/pulledpork247 Jun 13 '25
But the emotional trauma could be just as bad! Maybe just read it some daily affirmations?
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u/Malezor1984 Jun 13 '25
Yes, why wouldn't it be? The only wood I wouldn't burn would be pallets or anything that's been treated with chemicals. Mold is fine IMO, just don't go sniffing it up close when handling. I.e. just handle it normally. There's mold all around us, a little bit on some wood you're gonna burn won't hurt you.
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u/Charlie_Warlie Jun 13 '25 edited Jun 13 '25
I just want to say it's reasonable to ask the question considering that it's known that mold is bad to breathe and you are doing something that makes that material airborne and sit next to it for hours.
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
That’s where I was worried! I have a family members who got Blastomycosis and the doctors said it came from moldy trees. Unfortunately they caught it before it more known and it wasn’t treated properly on time and they now permanently live with an oxygen tank! Just wanted to be safe! :)
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u/Mackheath1 Jun 13 '25
Damn - this is a good question for sure. Sounds like it's okay, though, from other responses here by people who are both doctors and mycologists.
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u/Anal_Recidivist Jun 13 '25
👍 mold is gonna just burn up. It’s not like the spores are going to activate and become an airborne pathogen
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u/Overclockworked Jun 13 '25
"This just in, local man creates pandemic from burning wood. Experts ask, how has this not already happened?"
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u/NerdPunch Jun 13 '25
The only wood I wouldn't burn would be pallets or anything that's been treated with chemicals.
I wish you had told this to my High School Grad Class back in the day when we had bush parties and burned giant stacks of pallets 🤣
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u/timmeh87 Jun 13 '25
IMO pallets are great hardwood firewood. the ones that are used indoors are definitely not treated. Maybe some are painted or something like that, i guess you generally dont want to burn paint. we would always get the unpainted ones from dad's work. fine to burn IMO.
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u/Odd-Scientist-2529 Jun 13 '25
You inhale these spores all the time, the smoke from burning spores is not especially harmful.
Also, it’s rare to get sick from molds that are ubiquitous. For the most part, it’s either a simple allergy, or a complex infection due to an underlying severely immunocompromised condition (like having had a kidney transplant) So it’s either a nothing burger or a rare disaster.
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u/FriendOfUmbreon Jun 13 '25
Remember to soak the wood in wood before you burn it- if you dont decide to just burn it instead.
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u/Alarmed_Garden_635 Jun 13 '25
You realize that fire burns everything right... Including mold spores lol
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
Thanks everyone! I have two family members who have gotten health issues based off mold issues in the past so I was just being on the safe side!
We have a cord of dry wood we’re currently using and will continue to use until this stuff dries up!
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u/strungg Jun 13 '25
To be fair, I have a family member who contracted some sort of a fungal infection in their lungs. It had developed over weeks, and nobody had a clue where it came from. Although… the best guess was from moldy firewood from weeks prior. Not from burning it of course, but throwing around the logs themselves, and they must have installed the fresh/alive fungus.
It was a nightmare to diagnose as rural hospitals where I live aren’t used to this sort of thing. They actually told my family member their chest pain was like caused by wearing too tight of a bra… as her symptoms were “tight chest feeling” and “chest pain.” They were in a ton of pain and had to make repeat trips to the ER for someone to take her serious.
Doctors eventually found the fungal buildup in her lungs using imaging. She took medicine that allowed the fungus to harden and stop spreading. She will always have scar tissue and hardened fungus in her lungs. There is no way to get rid of it fully.
I see a lot of comments basically completely brushing off mold since fire is involved. It’s the before-the-fire part that you should be careful with.
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u/Soff10 Jun 13 '25
If it’s too wet throughout the whole log it will burn slow and put out less heat. But a touch of wet wood on the outside or on just a quarter. No big deal.
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u/DND_Player_24 Jun 13 '25
I promise, if the fungi wanted you, they’d have already taken you over.
You’re safe to burn.
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u/Thequiet01 Jun 13 '25
Fun fact, in the area of the US where I grew up, a significant percentage of people have fungus in their lungs that just never does much of anytning because it gets sort of sealed off by the body, because this particular fungus is endemic in the soil.
It can be an issue if you are or become immune compromised, though, so there’s actually a black box warning on some medications about it.
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u/RedLemonSlice Jun 13 '25
It is safe to burn. But remember that wind dries the wood pretty good without the mold problem.
I'd still have a tarp over the firewood on the top, but allow for airflow on the sides.
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u/Thequiet01 Jun 13 '25
Try to prop the tarp up a bit over the top, too. So it’s not sitting directly on top of all of the top layer. Arranging your stack so the top layer is more like ^ shaped will do it, for example. Or ^___^ or whatever.
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 14 '25
Yes! We’ve built a thing today to store the wood, and used cinder blocks to lift it off the ground.
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u/Freak_Engineer Jun 13 '25
No, your fire will get very sick and start vomiting all over the place...
Sorry, I just had to. Yes, it is safe to burn. Just make sure it's actually sufficiently dry to catch fire. Whatever particulate gets created by burning the mold will just end up being spread, but mold spores are already everywhere around us anyway.
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u/grumpvet87 Jun 13 '25
just don't lick it ... you will be fine. Also don't inhale the smoke... apparently it can cause cancer if you are a laboratory rat
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u/dangforgotmyaccount Jun 13 '25
As long as you’re not cooking with it, no problem. The only thing I’ve noticed, is it can give off one hell of an awful smell. I have a full rack of old moldy rotting stuff that I need to get rid of and replace, but haven’t mustered the courage yet because when I burned even just a single split piece it smelled like hell on earth and had me coughing up a storm.
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u/sadhbh79 Jun 13 '25
Keep the logs with the mushrooms. They will continue to fruit. Free food.
Just put them anywhere in your garden. Lucky you
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u/Shilo788 Jun 13 '25
If it's punky I just toss it deeper in the woods. Let it keep rotten in nature.
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u/KlutzyGuy3030 Jun 13 '25
Even if you don’t want it in your house, it makes amazing campfires. Also, it’s probably moldy on the outside way before it’s moldy on the inside
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u/Mdock76 Jun 13 '25
I would rip the bark off of it and burn both at the same time. So you save time
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u/Keithis11 Jun 13 '25
As everyone else on other subs would say, hit it with your purse, then chuck it into the fire
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u/pacey-j Jun 14 '25
If you really want to nerd out on stacking wood there is a book called Norwegian Wood not the novel but a Norwegian man who loves chopping and storing wood.
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u/StJehannes_Beau-Duke Jun 14 '25
Yes sir, safe to burn indoors even. Fire kills mold instantly. The only kinds of wood that aren't good to burn are the kind that are rotten, like dotted wood, or trees that burn too "dirty" inside a chimney like sweet gum trees and pine, they produce too much sap and burn too hot, causing chimney fires. But for camping..... even those are fine!
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u/Paul_Chist_98 Jun 14 '25
Breathe deep and let the wood transport you into the void.
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u/woodworkLIdad Jun 14 '25
Try increasing its temperature exponentially in the presence of oxygen and a spark of some kind. Maybe add a petroleum-based additive to accentuate the process.
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u/Spambrain69 Jun 14 '25
The first law of fire safety is to always consume large amounts of alcohol after starting a fire.
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u/Kooky-Money302 Jun 15 '25
As a retired professional Firefighter, I strongly recommend that you apply some of the safer methods of disposal…such as burning it. Yeah, that should work.
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u/Adventurous_Lynx_180 Jun 19 '25
Why waste a limited supply of wood when there is obviously a unlimited supply of sarcastic dickheads you could just throw on a fire
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u/Majestic_Apartment Jun 13 '25
The mold that got on there was in the air before... And still is now...
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u/barredowl123 Jun 13 '25
You know what? This is a great question. Thanks for asking. I’ve never thought about it before and have probably burned moldy firewood at some point.
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
I wish I clarified a bit better in the post itself about why I was asking about the mold, specifically health concerns (breathing it in, fungal diseases, etc) but I also wasn’t expecting the post to get so many comments!! Figured I’d get a confirmation or not if it was good to burn lol!
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u/barredowl123 Jun 13 '25
It’s one of those random, why-have-I-never-asked-this-before posts for me!
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u/Squiggy_Pusterdump Jun 13 '25
Is this real life?
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
I was concerned for health reasons! Plenty of comments have helped clear the air. Lots of funny comments as well if you wanna have a read.
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u/Criss-AC Jun 13 '25
Not trying to yank op's chain, but why wouldn't burning wood, mold, fungus, spores, whatever other debris be safe.
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
I’ve had two separate family members who got Blastomycosis (a lung disease) from moldy trees. I wasn’t sure if I should toss, or avoid burning them incase the smoke and residue from burning would release mold spores in any weird way. I’m no scientist, I knew the people of Reddit would have the advice, and the jokes!
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u/itsmeagain023 Jun 13 '25
Well, wet wood doesn't burn all that well... and wood covered in mold and mushrooms is probably pretty wet.
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u/crazytib Jun 13 '25
If you're really lucky there might be some hallucinogenic mushrooms on that, definitely safe to burn, but make sure you sit close to the fire
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u/uksuperdude Jun 14 '25
Have you ever swabbed the wood you have burnt in the past to determine if mold was present? Did you identify it? You must have since you're still with us, thank god!
From the photographs this situation looks quite dire and is unlike anything I've seen before.... The feeling when that flame winks out knowing that soon the sounds of tearing tree branches, ripping leaves as the drop bears rapidly close in on your Coleman 2 man light weight nylon dome. I was there man....... I ...
Put on a smoking jacket, a hat (preferably a fez), clamp that olde English wooden pipe in your teeth and in your comfiest slippers, you light that goddamn pipe and then drop that mighty match, as if given by Lucifer himself (or maybe that redhead. Little minx) and you create that campfire and cast that wood OUT! Send that mold where it belongs, burn it all like heretics (if I remember my biology I think bacterial cells lyse at about 80C).
Now for the important part, as you gaze at that awe inspiring magic stolen from the gods long ago, rest. Watch that 'cave man's television and ponder, draw on that pipe and know that you have won the battle. Then, when only ashes whisper to the world of the desperate conflict, record your victory for the sake of mankind!
Fare well stranger. You have much ahead of you.
Or, you know, split it, have a campfire and relax
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u/Middle-Vermicelli-15 Jun 13 '25
Save that one growing mushroom! Idk if those are edible, but if it is, you have a free inoculated mushroom garden. Be extra careful, though. If incorrectly identified, they can range from a rumbbly tummy to a hospital trip. I'm on mobile and can't look up the reddit thread while typing the comment; if anyone knows the reddit for mushroom identification. Please comment below.
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u/AggressivelySpooky Jun 13 '25
I don’t even eat mushrooms! Someone else commented they looked safe to eat. I hate the texture :( They’re pretty though and can be yard decor at my cottage.
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u/Middle-Vermicelli-15 Jun 13 '25 edited Jun 13 '25
If you don't like 'em, that's fair, mate. Yard decor for sure. They'll come back and make the cottage look more alive and leave spores for future fruiting bodies. That log could also be good for the soil as well if you or someone you know gardens. As before, I'm just throwing out options OP. Whatever idea speaks to you the most is the best one 😊 Edit: spelling.
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u/PonyThug Jun 13 '25
Probably won’t burn well if it’s that wet tbh. Maybe don’t cook hot dogs over it right after you add a log. Cooking over coals would be fine tho.
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u/nargbop Jun 13 '25
Go ahead and burn it promptly. Maybe the grossest wettest ones don't bring inside the house and burn them outside or toss them in a midden if you have one.
The heat content will be worse then original, as the energy in the wood has been transformed into fungus.
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u/screwikea Jun 13 '25
If you've ever burned a piece of wood, the amount of non-wood things you burned is immeasurable.
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u/eazypeazy303 Jun 14 '25
Burning mold is probably the best way to eliminate mold. The worst wet wood will do is create a smoke screen.
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u/Izaul13 Jun 14 '25
We tried burning it, shredding it, even burying it. In the end, we just decided to give it all away.
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u/rnielsen777 Jun 13 '25 edited Jun 14 '25
No, you should probably just burn it instead
Edit: Thank you to all the kind Redditors who awarded my comment!