Finally! An expert on the subject! :)
I don't know about "expert" but I build a LOT of fires. All the fire-building techniques in the world won't make a fire burn unless your wood is appropriately dry. Lots of your trees are green and filled with sap and it takes a good 6 months to a year to get a wood pile burnable, depending on where you live. You can huff and puff and use all the gas you want and you might get it a little burn but there won't be any heat. You need good dry kindlin and firewood.
Do you know how to tell how bad the winter is gonna be?
By the size of the woodpiles in the yards.
Ah for the relief! After 53 years of cutting 20 cords of wood per year to survive a brutal gas bill, I am relieved of all that by my move to NW AZ.