[Texan5]

You’re a braver man than I, Gunga Din...

Not any pine here, but plenty of cedar-actually, it is Ashe Juniper-but you don’t grill meat over it-there is plenty of oak and that is great to grill with.

[TigersEye]

Juniper smells wonderful. It is considered sacred or spiritual among dozens of societies around the world many of whom never had outside contact until recent centuries.

Not a lot of hardwoods up here in the Rockies of northern CO where the burger incident happened. I would attribute it to ignorance though not bravery. I have cooked over pine coals many times since but with great care that there are only coals. Some willow or river birch twigs are good for kicking up the fire without risk but they are too small and burn too fast to make an entire camp fire with.